All In the Family
by xhesaidshesaidx
Summary: Troy,a famous actor,is engaged to Gabriella,a famous actress and his costar.But at a reunion,sparks fly when he meets up with Sharpay,his elementary through high school crush.Too bad she's dating his cousin,and too bad hes engaged. MAYBE on Hiatus?
1. T R A I L E R

_Summary: Troy, a famous actor, is engaged to Gabriella, a famous actress and his costar. But at a reunion, sparks fly when he meets up with Sharpay, his elementary through high school crush. Too bad she's dating his cousin, and too bad he's engaged...for , Troyella, SharpayxOC_

_Okay so I got the idea for this story from watching the movie "Welcome Home Roscoe Jenkins" several days ago. It's not going to be exactly like the movie at all though, it was just the inspiration. This story is also very AU, where Sharpay and Gabriella are both OOC._

_Here's my attempt at a semi okay trailer. xD_

* * *

**Troy Bolton.**

_Shows Troy jogging outside early in the morning._

_Flashes to him doing an interview._

_Flashes to him talking to his agent/best friend. (Chad)_

"I'm not really sure if I can go through with this."

**Gabriella Montez.**

_Shows her reading through a script._

_Flashes to her getting out of her car._

_Flashes to her smiling at Troy._

"Love you."

**Two famous Hollywood stars...**

_Shows them with body guards surrounding them at the LAX airport._

**Engaged...for _publicity_?!**

_Shows them arguing._

"You know what? I only started dating you, and I only proposed because Chad told me to!"

"Excuse me?!"

**Sharpay Evans.**

_Shows her pulling a baseball cap down low over her head._

_Flashes to her sprinting outside._

_Flashes to her hugging Lucille Bolton._

"Oh my gosh! It's so great to see you again!"

"You too honey, and it's so nice that you and Justin are still together."

**Justin Bolton.**

_Shows him shooting a basket._

_Flashes to him smirking in satisfaction at Troy._

"Beat you again, cuz."

**Two normal people, dating since eighth grade.**

_(Shows Sharpay and Justin kissing.)_

**So at a family reunion...**

_Shows Troy on the phone with Lucille._

"Troy, you have to come. We haven't seen you up here in Albuquerque for five years!"

"I'll uh... think about it, mom."

_Flashes to Sharpay and Justin._

"My uncle invited us to this huge family reunion next week."

"That's fantastic! We're definitley going right? It'll be so great to see Jack and Lucille again!"

**When Sharpay and Troy meet for the first time since graduation...**

_Shows Sharpay smiling at Troy._

"It's been so long! How have you been? I mean I've seen you in the movies and stuff but-"

"You watch my movies?" _Troy smiles, she blushes._

"Maybe."

**What happens when old and new feelings are formed?**

_Shows them walking side by side._

"What were you saying that Justin stole from you in eighth grade?"

_Troy stops walking and looks at her._

"An amazing opportunity."

_Flashes to them kissing._

**As well as suspicions?**

_Shows Gabriella crossing her arms and tapping her foot impatiently when Troy walks in the room._

"Where were you, Troy?"

"Taking my morning jog like I always do..."

"I saw you with her."

**Will it end in happiness?**

_Shows the whole family sitting around a picnic table, laughing._

**...Or tears?**

_Shows Sharpay watching Troy and Gabriella kissing.  
She turns away, wiping away tears from her eyes._

**Starring Zac Efron.**

"I'll beat you at something one of these days Justin, just you wait."

**Ashley Tisdale.**

"It'll be fun!!"

**Vanessa Hudgens.**

"Tell me the truth, Troy!"

**Chace Crawford (as Justin.)**

"You're going down!"

**Bart Johnson (as Jack.)**

"His parents died Troy, so we took him on with open arms. Cut your cousin some slack."

**Lesie Wing (as Lucille.)**

"Oh you must be Gabriella, congratulations on the engagement."

**and Corbin Bleu...**

"Remind me again why you're making me go with you to _your _family reunion?!"

**In...**

_Shows Lucille hugging Troy with Jack standing nearby._

"I'm so glad that you decided to come, Troy. It means a lot to your father and I. Welcome home!"

"Yeah, good to see you're finally taking a break from all that Hollywood maddness."

**All In the Family.**

"No offense, but what did or do you see in Justin anyways?"

"Besides just being a one year older exact version of you?"

"Um...sure...I guess..."

_Sharpay smiles. _"Nothing."

_**Coming soon to FanFiction.**_

* * *

_A/N: Hope you liked the trailer. Please review and tell me what you think._

_Also, for some reason I really did not want to use Chace Crawford as Justin since it seems like lots of people use him in HSM fics these days, but I couldn't think of anyone else. ;P_

_Also, I really have no idea if people get married by publicity, I know they date for publicity, but I'm not sure about the getting married thing. That would suck. But in this story that's the case with TroyxGabriella._

_Anyways, once again, I'd love it if you reviewed! Hopefully I'll have chapter one up soon :D_

_-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx_


	2. P R O L O G U E

_Hi guys! Thanks for your kind reviewes. They really made me smile. :) Sorry I took a while to post this, but here it is! :)_

**Disclaimer: **If I owned High School Musical, Troypay would for _sure _happen, and I wouldn't be on fan fiction writing about it...I would be out there trailing behind the cast, snapping adorable pics of Zac and Ashley like the one at the HSM Ultimate Fan Pep Rally (oh and I LOVE whoever managed to take that picture!) until they told me to go away. xD ...erm yeah...just take that as a _no, I do not own HSM. :'( _Whoever _does _own HSM however, totally for sure screwed up the plot by making it "Troyella." and I'll stop now. Hold the applause. :) ;P

* * *

**All In The Family.**

**_Prologue._**

**T**roy Bolton had always hated kick ball, for several reasons. One reason was because half the time when he would be getting ready to boot the ball, feeling the 'power', and expecting to make that sucker fly far (or at least _at all_), he would end up making a fool out of himself by missing the ball completely, and falling on his bottom, causing everyone on both teams to point their grubby fingers at him and cackle as if he was the star of "America's Funniest Home Videos".

The second reason he hated the completely pointless and stupid game in his opinion, was not only because he sucked, but also because his bigheaded show off cousin was the best kickball player in the parking lot,and he never let Troy forget it. Justin Bolton found some kind of sickening pleasure (in Troy's opinion) in walking around, flaunting his butt like he was God's gift to earth.

And the third and final reason why Troy Bolton despised kickball so much to the point that it was probably unhealthy, had to be the worst reason of all.

_Her._

Sharpay Evans.

The final reason why he hated the dumb 'sport', which was just more of a _game _anyways.

She was always watching, standing off to the side, cheering. For who? Everyone. She liked to cheer on everyone on both of the teams that would be playing against each other. She always made Troy feel like a complete loser, and he knew exactly what _Justin _would say if he ever told him that... "You _are _a complete loser."

It's not like Sharpay purposely tried to make Troy feel that way, as far as she was concerned, team spirit and enthusiasm had always been a good thing. She had no way of knowing that it made Troy's head spin wildly, or that it made his heart pound at a faster then normal rate in his chest.

Or to put it in shorter terms, she simply made him _nervous, _which was probably the biggest reason _why _he was always falling down, or missing the ball when he tried to kick.

But he still refused to give up. He could break all of his limbs, but you would still seem him out there wheeling himself around in a wheel chair if he had too. He was hoping that _one of these days _maybe he could impress Sharpay- the prettiest and sweetest girl he'd ever met, and whom he had been _strongly _crushing on since the fourth grade...secretly, of course.

He also refused to give up on kick ball...or at anything else for that matter because he was more then just determined to for once beat his jerk of a cousin...at _anything_.

It wasn't that Troy was super competitive and his desire was to show Justin up or anything. It was really the other way around. Justin had always been the more athletic, smarter, and more outgoing of the two. He _loved _winning. It's not like that was _bad _or anything, but it was the fact that it seemed to Troy like he was always purposely trying to _make _him feel like the biggest joke in the neighborhood that bothered him.

So for once, Troy felt like it would be nice to win at something..._anything_, just so his cousin with a bigger ego then eight bullies put together had would actually feel how it was to be the _loser. J_ust once.

But it didn't really help when the potential girl of Troy's dreams would stand there cheering, getting him worked up, nervous, and sweaty.

"Troy, you're up!" the captain of Troy's kick ball team, and his older-by-two-years sister, Michelle, Mich for short, called to him.

"Finally. Thanks a lot, sis." Troy mumbled sarcastically to Michelle before casually positioning himself at homeplate. Michelle was his favorite sibling and favorite family member all together...it seemed like she was his only relative who didn't crap on him all the time. But she still numbered him as the very last person to kick on their team, and that in itself was humiliating. It had been even _more _humilating though earlier when they'd been choosing teams. Troy, as always, had been picked second to last. He would have probably been picked last if Sharpay's twin brother Ryan, who _had _been picked last (by Justin- captain of the other team, as always) hadn't broken his wrist earlier in the week.

Troy saw Justin smirk at him from the pitcher's mound, as if seeing his thirteen year old cousin getting ready to attempt a kick was the funniest thing he'd ever witnessed in his life.

_That stupid jerk. _Troy thought bitterly, and then the enthusiastic, cheerful voice of guess who broke through his thoughts.

"Alright let's go Troy!!"

Troy took in a deep breath before turning around slowly, sending a very much forced, fake smile in the perky blonde's direction. His smile immediatley turned into a real one however when he caught sight of her flashing him a thumbs-up sign, with a grin plastered across her pretty face.

Troy nodded slightly at Sharpay before turning back around to face his fourteen year old cousin, who was somehow expertly spinning the red rubber fair sized ball on the tip of his right index finger.

"Want me to roll it slow and smooth, or baby bouncing?" Justin called to him from his place on the mound, that taunting smirk still present on his face.

"Slow and smooth." Troy told him flatly.

"Aww you sure you don't want baby bouncing?" Justin teased, "It would suit you well. It has _baby _in it."

Troy shook his head, resisting two urges: one of which being the urge to roll his eyes, and the other urge being to tell him that that was probably the stupidest, worst comment that was to retarded to deserve to even be called an "insult" that he'd ever heard in his life.

Shockingly though, Justin's remark was rewarded with a few snickers- only coming from the few kids under the age of seven that were playing anyways.

"Just roll the ball Justin." Troy snapped impatiently. He didn't know how or why, but for some reason he felt like he was actually going to get a good kick this time. So he wanted to get the ball pitched to him before he lost his determination completely.

Unfortunatley for him, Justin didn't seem to realize this. Or if he did, it was obvious he could care less.

"I don't want to knock you over with it though, Troy. Then you'd have to deal with being called "the human bowling pin" by every kid on the block!"

A few more kids then before laughed at this one. There were about twenty all together- ten on each team, plus the people who were just watching the game- like Sharpay. This was the weekly kick ball game that all the neighborhood kids would always get together to play.

"Roll. The. Ball, Justin." Troy repeated in a hiss, feeling his face grow hot.

"I mean no offense or anything little cuz, but this ball could easily take you _out_!" Justing continued, ignoring Troy. Troy was about to throw back a witty response, but was cut off by no one other then Sharpay.

"Justin please,that's enough. Just roll the ball to him,okay?" she cut in calmly. Justin sighed, nodding solemly, and said nothing more. Sharpay was just too kind that you _had _to listen to her. Troy couldn't recall one time where any kid in the neighborhood had ever gone against her for anything.

And although Troy appreciated that she was sticking up for him, he felt pathetic as well...having to rely on a girl to get someone to quit picking on him wasn't exactly what he would think of as a very good way to impress her. But he was quick to shake it off as he saw the ball rolling in a smooth, straight line twords him.

Concentrating hard, Troy charged at the ball.He was _going _to get it this time. He was_ going_ to kick it- hard. He _had _to!

_Come on, come on!_

He didn't realize how fast he was running, he didn't even realize that he _could _run fast at all! That is, he had never realized either of those _before_, at least not until Justin's alarmed voice came.

"Whoa- slow down Troy!"

But Troy ignored him, he was way to focused at this point,and he wasn't stopping until he had the full task complete.

_Gonna kick it...gonna kick it...gonna kick it!_

Troy brought his right leg back, and with a loud grunt, swung it forward, slamming it into the ball with all his might.

_I did it!_

Feeling quite proud and accomplished, he took off for first base without even bothering to look back or up to see where he'd sent the ball. It wasn't until he was halfway to second when he realized that no one was coming after him with the ball wanting to peg him out. There was no action on the field. There were no cries of "He's going to second!" or any shouts of "Peg him! Get him out!"

Nothing.

The only thing he heard was the repeated chorus of alarmed voices shouting out "Oh my god!" "Justin!" and "Is he okay?!"

Bringing his sprinting to a halt, Troy nervously glanced in the direction of the pitcher's mound, where everyone was now crowding around. He had no choice but the cautiously join the group, no matter how much he dreaded it.

"What happened?..." he asked nervously, his voice shaking with panic. A few people turned to him with narrowed eyes and scrunched up their noses as if in disgust of..._him?..._

"Way to go _Bolton_!" Thirteen year old Zeke spat sarcastically, pushing Troy away not too hard, but not exactly lightly either.

"What did I do? What happened?!" Troy desperatley wanted to know, ignoring Zeke and pushing his way through the crowd, ignoring the shouts of "Ouch! Watch where you're pushing people _Troy_!" and "Look what you did!"

Then he finally discovered what was wrong. Justin was sitting on the ground, bright red blood spilling from his nose which he was desperatley trying to cover and wipe away with his hand.

Justin got really bad nose bleeds, but they'd never been _that _bad or...disgusting before.He just had to take it easy most of the time.

The non-stop spilling blood didn't seem to faze Sharpay however, as she was kneeling down next to him, trying to stop the blood flow with her sweatshirt which she had taken off. It didn't seem to gross her out at all...just worry her.

Troy's face twisted into a look of surprise, confusion, and disgust. Sure, he liked blood when it came to the horror movies like most boys did, but it wasn't at all appealing when it was spurting like a broken faucet from the nose of his cousin, while his crush was trying to wipe it away with her own sweatshirt.

"How did this happen?!" he demanded to know, asking really anyone who was willing to give him an answer.

"It's your fault! You kicked him right in the honker with the ball!" some random eight year old boy that Troy had never been very fond of anyway snapped at him accusingly. And before long, accusations and insults were being thrown at Troy left and right.

"Hey guys knock it off! He didn't do it on purpose!" Michelle cut in, trying to stick up for her younger brother like it always seemed she had to do. The accusations only died down slightly.

"I-I'm sorry Justin. I didn't mean to-"

"Way to screw up again, kid." Justin cut him off bitterly as Sharpay helped him to his feet. She'd remained silent the entire time so far, just trying to help him. Blood was still dripping from his nose, but it wasn't as bad as it had been just a couple of minutes ago, and he was pressing Sharpay's sweatshirt sleeve against his nose.

"Keep the pressure on." Troy heard Sharpay tell Justin, who nodded, not taking his ice cold eyes away from Troy's pale face.

"Guess this is game over guys!" Justin then said loudly enough so everyone would hear it. Several groans and a few more "Way to go, Troy"'s were thrown around before the crowd slowly started to part. It was getting a little dark anyways, and everyone decided they should just leave the vacant lot and go home. (It was a small little suburb they all lived in, everything was pretty close togeher.)

Troy remained frozen in place, staring in humiliation at the ground. Not only was he more embarassed then he ever had been in his life, but he really was sorry. He had not at all intended to hurt Justin physically like that. This whol time his goal had been to hurt his big ego slightly.

But it resulted instead in probably every kid in the neighborhood being mad at him.

_Great, just great._

Troy quickly looked up in surprise when he felt a hand on his shoulder.He'd already expected everyone to be gone already or at least leaving. His face turned bright red when he saw just who it was.

"Hey. You okay?" a concerned Sharpay asked in a soft voice, staring into his deep blue eyes. She'd always thought he was cute. He stared back at her for a minute in silence, not knowing what to say, and too afraid to choke.

"I...I...yeah." he finally said, "It's Justin who got hurt, not me."

"He'll be fine. He always gets those nose bleeds anyways." she told him, trying to be reassuring. It didn't really help. Troy bit his lip and tore his eyes away from hers, too shy to look directlyat her any longer.

"Where'd he go?" he asked after a while, wondering if Justin had made it home by now to rat him out to his parents to try and make it seem like Troy had hit him in the face with the ball on purpose.

"He walked back home with Michelle already. Left a couple of minutes ago." Sharpay said, leaving out the part when Justin had said he wanted to leave as soon as possible to avoid seeing Troy's stupid idiotic clueless face.

"Oh." Troy said quietly, then asked "...How come you're still here?"

Sharpay frowned. "Do you...not want me here?" she asked, almost hurt by his question.

"No no no. That's not what I meant. I'm just wondering is all. You know...since everyone else is ticked off at me, I guess I'm just surprised that you're actually still talking to me." Troy said, turning even redder.

Her next action surprised Troy. He was _not_ expecting her to hug him, but she did.

"They'll come around. It wasn't even really that big of a deal." she said once she pulled away. Troy blinked, still in a slight daze after hugging her. The nice scene her sweet strawberry shampoo still lingered behind in his nostrils. (Which thankfully were blood-free!)

"You always manage to make bad things seem a lot better." Troy said after a while. She smiled.

"Walk me home?"

He gave her a small smile back in return. "Sure."

* * *

Jack Bolton was casually watching some football game on the television with his nephew when he heard the front door creak open and then slam shut.

"Trooooooooooooooooooyyyy?!" he called, assuming that it would be his son returning home. There was a pause.

"Um...yeah dad?" he heard his thirteen year old son respond, a slight quiver in his voice.

"Get in here!" he practically barked. Troy appeared a few seconds later. Justin,who was now holding a wadded up bundle of tissues to his nose, shot his cousin a hateful glare when he came in.

"Uh...hey Justin, you got a little...um...yeah." Troy couldn't help but saying as he motioned to his nose.

"Don't be a smart ass, Troy." Jack said sternly. "And wipe that smirk off your face or I'll do it for you!" he added harshly. The tiny smirk immediatley vanished from Troy's face. Justin rolled his eyes.

"You wanna tell me what happened?" Jack said to Troy,who then shifted his weight uncomfortably from one leg to the other. He swallowed.

"It was an accident dad, I swear."

"Troy David Alexander Bolton, how many times must I tell you to quit being such a damned klutz?! Pay attention next time!" Jack snapped angrily. "This boy looses any more blood and we'll have to send him to the emergency room!"

"Oh no, it's a-okay Uncle J, I'm sure Troy here really meant no harm. It's just a minor nose bleed, after all." Justin spoke up in fake kindness. Troy resisted the urge to roll his eyes for the second time that day as he felt his lunch about ready to leap out of his stomach.

"Well Justin, since you're so forgiving, I guess I won't punish my inconsiderate son."

"Inconsiderate?!" Troy repeated in shock, "I told you it was an accident! It's not like I _planned _to kick him in the face! Maybe he should have caught it or moved out of the way instead of just standing there like a paralyzed idiot!"

"Do not use that tone with me, Troy. Go to your room." Jack said seriously. Troy shook his head and turned on his heel with an angry huff, stomping out of the living room and up the stairs to his own room...which he had to share with Justin.

Justin shook his head once he was gone. "Such a drama queen." he muttered as if he really cared, which he actually didn't. "He'll lighten up though, Uncle Jack." he said, patting his uncle's shoulder in reassurance. Jack sighed.

"I hope so." he grumbled.

* * *

Sharpay was upstairs in her room the next day at about three in the afternoon, catching up on her summer reading list when she heard the doorbell ring. She remained in her position on the bed, still reading her copy of _To Kill A Mocking Bird_. She expected Ryan or one of her parents to answer it.

About a minute passed by, before she heard her fraternal twin brother calling her.

"Shar! Door for you!" he yelled up the stairs to her room in a sing-songy voice. The twins always loved to sing, sometimes they didn't even know when they were doing it. Sharpay quickly placed a bookmarker inside the page she was on before climbing off her bed and leaving her room. She saw Justin standing in the doorway when she reached the front door. Ryan had already wandered elswhere.

"Hi!" she greeted the fourteen year old boy with a welcoming smile. She always loved having visitors. "How's your nose?"

Justin's nose twiched a bit. "Well, I can still feel it. So I think it's fine." he smiled. She nodded and smiled back.

"Good, and it looks like you can still breath too." she joked, her smile not faltering one bit. Neither was his. He chuckled.

"Yeah. Thanks for asking about my nose by the way..." he laughed, "But that's not why I'm here. I just got back from the mall with some of the guys. I felt bad about...you know...soaking your sweatshirt in blood yesterday, so here-" he said, holding up a brown paper Hollister bag. "-I bought you a new one. It's not exactly like the one you were wearing yesterday, but it's pink...your favorite color...and the other one was also pink, so yeah. I kind of owe it to you."

Sharpay stared at the bag for a minute before replying.

"I...well, that was very nice of you, Justin, but it's okay about the sweatshirt. You really didn't need to go buy me a new one or anything...really, I wasn't expecting you too."

Justin smiled again. "Oh I know. I didn't think you would, but I wanted to. I still felt bad about ruining the other one..." he paused, "even though it _was _my butthead of a cousin's fault..." he muttered with an eye roll at the thought of Troy. He coughed.

"But it was my blood that messed it up. Not his, so it's just my way of saying thanks." he finished, going back to his original friendly tone. Sharpay giggled.

"He's not a 'butthead'" she chuckled, putting air quotes around the insult that he'd used, "I'm sure he didn't _mean _any harm."

"Yeah,I'm sure." Justin repeated flatly. They both remained silent for a while. "But uh anyways," he finally spoke up again, "this isn't about Troy. Really Sharpay, take the sweatshirt. I didn't buy it because I _had_ to, I wanted to. Thanks for helping me yesterday."

"Mm...your welcome, but I did _that_ also because _I wanted_ too. "

Justin smirked. "I guess we're just going to argue about this forever then." he said with a slight laugh. "It's a gift from me to you, please take it?"

"But it's not even my birthday or Christmas or anything..." Sharpay said. It wasn't that she didn't like gifts, she just wouldn't feel right taking it. He'd spent money on her, and what was the occasion? There wasn't one. He was being very sweet to her though.

Justin laughed. "I know. But you know...boys get girls presents when they like them." he hinted. Sharpay's brown eyes widened.

"Huh? You...like me?"

"Everyone likes you, Shar." Justin teased in almost a 'duh' tone of voice. But it was true. Sharpay blushed, but said nothing.

"Would you take the gift if I asked you to be my girlfriend?" he asked her after a while. Her pink cheeks turned red.

"How would that make a difference?"

"Well,I'd say our first day as I couple would count as an occasion. Then you would have to take the sweatshirt, don't you think?"

Sharpay smiled. "I...I guess..."

"So is that a yes?" Justin asked her hopefully. She thought about it for a minute.

"Well...uh...yeah." she giggled, "Sure. I...I like you too, Justin."

His smile broke out into a full grin as he thrusted the Hollister bag out to her again. "I'm glad to hear that. So will you take it now?"

Sharpay laughed. "Oh...fine." she said, taking the bag from his hand. He walked a little bit forward, capturing his new girl into a tight hug. She hugged him back happily. She'd had boyfriends in the past before, but since she was still only thirteen, nothing had _ever _been 'serious'. But she really liked Justin. She'd known him for a long time, so who really cared if he was just a year older? He was extremely nice, and not to mention very cute...but then again, so was Troy...

* * *

_A/N 1: Hehe,don't act like you weren't ever in some kind of relationship when you were 13/14...or if you weren't allowed at that age, you probably wanted too lol. xD I'm thirteen now, which is why I know it's realistic. I tried to make it light though. _

_A/N 2:Also, in case I wasn't that good at exlpaining, the prologue takes place during the summer time. Sharpay,Troy,and Ryan would be going into eighth, and Justin would be going into ninth._

_Hope you liked the prologue, ah...it took me /a long time/ to write for some reason So I hope it turned out okay?..._

_Please review and tell me what you think! (sorry for any typos or anything.)_

_-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx_


	3. 1: So Happy Together?

_Don't die of shock people, I'm UPDATING. :o_

_I know, I know...where the fk have I been for the last month?_

_School and around...yeah, that's where. You all have been too, so you know exactly how it is. Now please...lower your rotton tomatoes and save them for pelting at someone else..._

_ANYWAYS, I just realized that, referring back to the prologue, why would Sharpay have a sweatshirt anyways in the middle of Summer in New Mexico? xD...well...there's always thunderstorms in the summertime you know so yeah...let's just say Sharpay likes to be prepared. :P_

**Disclaimer: **Wouldn't that be totally awesome if just one chapter later I magically owned HSM? Yeah it would. But do /you/ see any headlines anywhere that say "HSM PLOT: CHANGED TO 'TROYPAY!'" No? Didn't think so. So I still don't own it. Sigh. ;P

**Head's Up: **Just telling/warning you again, Gabriella and Sharpay are both very much out of their characters. Basically, they switched personalities. It just worked better that way. ;)

* * *

**All In The Family**

**_Chapter One - So Happy Together!...?_**

**(Fourteen Years Later.)**

**Los Angeles (Beverly Hills), California.**

**T**roy Bolton was nervously toying around with the small black velvet box in his black tuxedo pants pocket, while talking on the phone with Chad Danforth. His tone was hushed, as he did not want Gabriella Montez- _maybe _soon to be 'Bolton' to hear his conversation.

"Look Chad, I really don't know if I can go through with this." he spoke into the phone to his publicist and best friend in almost a whisper. "After all..." he paused, looking around the condo to make sure the coast was clear. "It was _your _bright idea for me to ask her out anyways. And _now _you're thinkin' I should _marry _her?" he scoffed in disbelief.

"_Troy, it's not like I'm _forcing _you to do it. It was just a suggestion, you know_." came Chad's almost defensive reply. "_All I'm saying is, it would be even better for the publicity if you did. Plus, I'm just doin' m job anyways. I _am _a _publicist _aren't I?_"

Troy sighed. "Well, we're already _dating _aren't we!?" he snapped in annoyance. It's not that he didn't like Gabriella, she was a kind, caring woman...sometimes, and they didn't really fight or anything...minus the couple of times she'd cussed him out and thrown miscellaneous objects at him in the past. (Her favorite weapons seemed to be either one of her high heeled shoes, or one of her many purses which she would always wack him with.) It was just that, he wasn't exactly ready to get married anytime soon. He wasn't even sure if he liked having her as a _girlfriend_. But he figured he was in too deep at this point, they'd already been going out for nearly a year and had lived together for just under three months.

Now, Chad had been suggesting for the last month it was about time to pop the question.

"Troooooooooooy! Where the hell did you put my black purse?! The one with the sparkles!" came Gabriella's frustrated voice from the bedroom.

At this point, Chad had been rambling on and on about something that Troy was hardly even paying any attention too. He sighed.

"Hold on, Chad." he said, cutting the African American man off mid-sentence before covering the phone with the palm of his hand.

"Gabby, first of all, _all _of your purses have _sparkles_!" he shouted back to his possibly-soon-to-be-fiance, "And second of all, why on earth would I touch your purse?!"

The only reply he got was an aggravated scream. He rolled his eyes and brought the phone back up to his ear.

"I gotta go. Bye." he mumbled into the phone, ready to hang up.

"_Wait_!" Chad stopped him, "_Are you gonna ask her or not?_"

"Gee I don't know," Troy spat. "Let's take a look at the possibilities, shall we?" he said, clearing his throat. "If I don't, you'll keep on trying to 'persuade' me into it for the next five years until I do. If I do tonight when we go out to dinner, odds are she'll say yes and then we'll live happily ever after and have five bitchy kids!" he said.

"_No_." Chad said, _"and then,y__ou will no longer be old news."_

"I'm not old news." Troy said flatly.

"_Oh but you will be very soon unless you don't mind settling for a little change._" Chad informed him. "_You and Gabriella are only halfway through season two of the show, and the ratings haven't been very high lately."_

"A little change?!" Troy repeated in disbelief that he would even say that. "A _little change?! _Chad, this is my _future _we're talking about- this is my _life_! A _little change _would be like a new haircut! This is no little change, _pal_!" he spat. "And what are you saying? That if we get married the ratings will go higher just like that?" he said madly, "I doubt it, god damn, I _knew _I shouldn't have let you and Zeke talk me into this dumb TV show thing! What ever happened to the big-screen productions_?_"

Chad sighed, "_It might help at least somewhat." _he muttered, deciding not to comment on the other things Troy had BS-d about.

Troy remained silent.

"_Look I have to go...Taylor just finished making chicken fetucinni alfredo, and I think you have a dinner date of your own to get to. Good luck._"

"Thanks for the blessing, _buddy_." Troy mumbled sarcastically.

"_Sure thing, and remember to make me the best man at your wedding_!" Chad joked with a laugh. "_Oh- and no pressure!_" he added before hanging up.

Troy sighed and carelessly tossed the phone down onto the couch cushion before standing up and making his way to the bedroom.

"Hey Gabby you ready to- _whoa!_" As soon as he stepped inside, he quickly had to scramble to the side to avoid getting hit in the head by the metal hanger that had been chucked his way.

"What the hell?!" he gasped, literally having just seen his life flash before his eyes as he watched Gabriella with startled blue eyes. She was grunting and throwing clothes and other random objects obviously in her way all over the place.

"Where is my silk scarf?!" she demanded to know, not bothering to turn around to look at him. Troy rolled his eyes to himself. First the missing purse, now the scarf. What was she going to loose next?The rest of what was left of her already small amount of self-control?

"I don't know, where do you put it the last time you wore it?"

Gabriella laughed at Troy's silliness(in her opinon), momentarily stilling all actions. "It's brand new Troy, who would wear the same thing after it's already been _used _once?"

Troy blinked.

"Normal people?"

Gabriella scoffed uncaringly. "Oh just help me look for it!" she snapped, brushing him off.

* * *

"We're sorry, Mr. Bolton, but we're full right now. You may just have to wait for a table."

Troy sighed inwardly in frustration, resisting the urge to slam his fists into the nearest wall. (Which was made of stone marble.)

Instead, he shifted uncomfortable and jammed his hands into the pockets of his suit, clutching the ring box tightly. Gabriella was clutching his left arm with one hand as she waved to photographers outside the restaraunt (who were pressed up against the glass door with their bulky cameras) with the other hand.

"But you don't understand..." Troy leaned forward slightly to read the nametag of the Italian waitor. "Alanzo-"

"It's pronounced _Alonso._" the snide waitor corrected him in a stuck up manner. These snooty waitors who worked at the fanciest restaraunts in all of Beverly Hills didn't care if you were famous or not- they treated everyone all the same- which was not even like a normal person, but more like a gut-oozing bug plastered against the windsheild of a cheap and dirty car.

Or in other words, like shit.

"Right...Alfonzo-"

"_A-lon-so!_" the waitor snapped almost offensively.

"_Alonso_," Troy corrected himself for the second time, beginning to loose all of his patience. "we had a reservation. I made it three days ago for eight o'clock!"

"Well, if you are not already blatantly aware of this, it is currently almost nine."

"Yes, I'm aware of that. But come on; we're just running a little late-"

"That excuse does not at all make up for the fact that there are simply no tables left for you to be seated."

"But-"

"And there's nothing I can do about it." Alonso smirked, obviously enjoying Troy's helpless and annoyed state.

"Enjoy the rest of your night, sir."

"No! You don't understand! I-"

"Do enjoy." the waitor cut him off. Troy sighed, giving in."Well...I suppose we could wait for a table...about how long do you think it'll be?"

"I'd say somewhere in between the ranges of one to two hours."

Troy groaned.

Gabriella was too busy having her picture take by the paps to notice.

"This is what happens when you forget to make a reservation." Alonso mumbled, and Troy bit his tongue, holding back from screaming out and repeated that he _had _made a reservation, and that it was all Gabriella's fault they were late anyways since at the last minute she'd decided to switch up her entire outfit- _and _straighten her naturally wavy hair.

Well...at least it was buying him more time to try and figure out his proposal...

* * *

**Provo, Utah.**

"...Yes, definatley...uh-huh...yeah...it was so nice to hear from you again, uncle J...yeah...sure thing...okay, bye."

Sharpay Evans stared at her boyfriend eagerly, desperatley longing to know what that half hour long phone conversation had been about. She'd been eavesdropping the entire time, pestering Justin and begging him to hand the phone over so she could at least say "hi" two the man that had been like a second father to her when she was younger, but Justin had ignored and waved her away throughout the whole conversation.

"So what was that about?! Tell me!" Sharpay said eagerly. She knew Justin- he hated talking to people on the phone, and for half an hour was like, a record for him. So this had to be a big deal.

The two of them lived together in a cozy apartment in Utah, but were still in the boyfriend-girlfriend stage...after fourteen years. Neither of them had really spoken to their family or friends back in Albuquerque in a few months- they caught up every so often, but really never managed to find the time. Jack Bolton had called Justin half an hour ago, surprising the couple, with a kind invitation.

"Well, that was Jack..." Justin began slowly,

"I know _that _much, J, what was he calling about?"

"He invited us to what is apparently supposed to be this huge family reunion next week."

At that instant, a huge smile broke out over Sharpay's face.

"That's fantastic!" she said enthusiastically, "We're definitley going right? It'll be so great to see Jack and Lucille again! It's been so long..." she said, the last time she'd seen the older couple was two Christmases ago, when they'd come up to visit her and Justin, and the last time she'd seen any of Justin's cousins was an even longer time ago...some, she hadn't even seen since her high school graduation!

"Sure...if you're sure you want to go." Justin said as he scratched the back of his neck, not sounding as enthusastic as her.

"Of course I do!"

" 'Kay then, we'll go then." Justin shrugged. Sharpay shot him a confused look that was part suspicion.

"Well, you don't seem to excited about it. What's wrong?" she asked. The twenty eight year old shrugged again.

"Nothing...I'm just worried about taking this time off from work, is all." he answered lamely.

"Justin, you're a math teacher for seventh graders..."

"And?"

"And it's the middle of the _summer_." Sharpay pointed out, standing up from the kitchen table and walking over to her boyfriend who was awkwardly slouched at the counter. "Now, you wanna tell me what's _really _the matter?" she asked sweetly, wrapping her arms around his waist and peeking up at him with large brown puppy dog eyes. He smiled down at her, but kept his hands jammed in the pockets of his jeans.

"Well...it's nothing, really. I'm just kinda skeptic about this reunion thing." he admitted.

Sharpay frowned. "How come?"

"Jack mentioned that _all_ _o_f my cousins, aunts, and uncles from his side of the family will be there. Or, he's hoping everyone will be anway. He hasn't made all the phone calls yet." Justin explained.

"Yeah, and? Last I remember, all your cousins, aunts, and uncles loved you." Sharpay remembered as she absent mindedly ran one of her hands through his hair. She did that often, but she couldn't help herself...it was really soft. Justin didn't mind anyways.

"Yeah, all but _one._" Justin grumbled, as a magazine resting on the kitchen counter caught the attention of his eye. Sharpay noticed that he was looking at something, and let her own eyes follow to what he was looking at.

"Oh, come on now," she said, pulling away from him and picking up the magazine where, on the front cover was a picture of Troy Bolton- _Justin's cousin_, Troy Bolton- _the actor_, Troy Bolton. He was flashing a cute smile at the camera, and the headline was saying something about the TV show he starred on, and how it seemed to be going downhill...which wasn't a good thing. It was one of those typically common celebrity gossip magazines that Justin never bothered to read. Sharpay, on the otherhand, found something so extremely fascinating in seeing the face of a hollywood star on the cover of a magazine. But not just any hollywood star- one that she knew and was friends with in her childhood.

"It's been like, what- nine years since you saw Troy? I think it's time you moved past this rivalry/hate thing. Maybe you shuld just try to get along with him for once." Sharpay said. "If he's at the reunion I mean." she added.

"Of course that loser will be there, he's Jack's _son_."

"I wouldn't call him a loser, J. He's famous now, remember?" Sharpay said. She loved pointing things out, but sometimes it bothered Justin.

"And who knows- maybe if you tried to get along with him, you might even grow to like each other and become friends. Ever think of that? He _is _your cousin, after all..."

"Shar, you know- there's a _reason _why I haven't bothered talking to him in nine years. And that's 'cause we've never got along, and probably never will."

Sharpay was rolling her eyes as he said this. Gosh, Justin could be so immature sometimes even though he was in his late twenties.

"Give me a break, Justin. I thought you could be a little more mature then that. You're twenty eight for crying out loud! It's time to take off your pampers and move onto big-boy boxers."

"Excuse me?"

"First thing I could think of, sorry." Sharpay mumbled. Justing chuckled slightly.

"Whatever, that's not the point. I think you should try to get along with Troy. Don't you miss him at all?"

"I miss bugging the crap outta him, if that's what you mean." Justin grinned slyly. Sharpay just rolled her eyes again and walked away, shaking her head and mumbling something like "Some guys really just _never _mature, do they?"

* * *

"Trooooooooooooooo-ooooyy!! What the hell is taking so long?! We've been waiting around for half an hour!" Gabriella whined. But before Troy could answer, they were interrupted by Alonso.

"Good news," the waitor said, "there's been a last minute cancellation." he said, and glared at Troy. "From a person who _bothered _to make a reservation..._last week_."

Troy fought back the desire to roll his eyes. How many times did he have to remind this idiot that _he_ _did _make a reservation?!

"Anyway, if you were still looking for a table, feel free to follow me." Alonso said, and then Troy could have sworn he heard him mutter in a barely audible whisper "Or just leave. Either way it doesn't matter."

"What was that?" Troy asked. Alonso cleared his throat.

"Right this way!" he lead the couple into the main dining area where couples were seated all over the place at tables. There was a trio in the far corner of the dining area, dressed up in fancy suits, playing violions.

Actually, everyone was dressed in very fancy ways. Including Troy himself, Gabriella, and the waitor. This was a high class fancy restaraunt, after all. Perfect for a wedding proposal...

Troy swallowed nervously at that thought as he followed Alonso to a table in the back, holding Gabriella's hand tightly. Was he really ready for this kind of commitment?

No.

But he supposed that he had to do, what he had to do...and what he had to do was the purpose of this whole night, so he was going to do it.

Ask Gabriella Montez to marry him.

"Here are your menus." Alonso said, turning on a fake kind act as Troy pulled out Gabriella's chair for her in a very gentlemenly manner.

"Thanks for all your help, Alfonzo." Troy then told the waitor with equally fake kindness and a huge fake polite smile. Lately, it seemed like everything in Troy's life was fake. Starting with Alonso, and ending with his "feeings" twords his possibly soon to be fiance'.

"Ahem. _Alonso_." Alonso harrumphed.

"That's what I said." Troy muttered. Alonso simply glared and nodded.

"Thanks again, Alfanza." Troy repeated, noticing that the waitor wasn't leaving as he tried to hide a smirk. Now he was just doing it on purpsoe. Alonso spun around on his heel and trotted away, mumbling "It's Alonso, you twit." under his breath.

Troy chuckled. He didn't know Italian waitors would ever use the term "twit."

"So," Troy began, reverting his attention to Gabriella- his "girlfriend". "what do you think? Lobster sound good?"

"Oh, yuck." was her response.

"Okay...steak?"

"Nah."

Troy sighed. "Halibut?"

She turned her nose up in a disgusted manner. Troy took that as a no.

"Salmon?" he tried. She seemed to think about it for a minute. Suddenly, she gave him a small smile.

"Smoked?" she asked. He smiled.

"Of course!"

* * *

Half an hour later, Troy decided that it would be a good time to pop the question that could possibly change his life. He remembered Chad's 'kind' words of advice;

_"No pressure!"_

Psh. Yeah. Right.

Right at that moment, pressure and nerves was _all _Troy was feeling. But, ignoring those feelings, he cleared his throat and spoke up- cutting whatever Gabriella off mid setence. He hadn't really been paying much attention to what she was saying anyway.

"Hey Gabby- can I ask you something?"

"I guess so, but you could have at least waited 'till I was done telling you about how-"

"Yeah, yeah, sure. Anyways..." Troy said, figuring that getting it over with quickly was the best way to do it.

"Gabriella." he sighed, reaching for her hand across the table. Her dark eyes widened.

"Oh my god- you're not breaking up with me, are you?!" she asked, her cheeks flushing.

"What? No!" Troy quickly said, and then mumbled "Quit the opposite, actually."

"What?"

"Nothing. Gabriella...look. I just wanted to say, these last several months with you have been...amazing. I...I mean, you, are amazing." he swallowed. "I've never been..." he gulped. "happier."

There, he'd gotten through that much. Now, how was he going to say the rest? This was hard for him, no doubt. It was hard saying something that you really didn't mean. He figured now would be a good time to bring his acting skills to good use, but somehow he couldn't bring himself too.

This was real life, he wasn't playing some character. This was the real deal. _His life_, so now what was he supposed to say?

Troy stared across the table at Gabriella. She was staring back at him with an unreadable, mysterious expression on her face. Her brown eyes were full of questions. Troy blinked, remembering back to a long time ago, there was a certain blonde girl that always used to give him that look. Wow...did all females do that?

He didn't know, but it sure seemed like it. He remembered back to his childhood, that one girl who always used to just look at him like that. He'd tried endlessly to figure out what she was thinking and feeling whenever she'd given him that stricken look, but had always failed. It was impossible to tell what that girl had been thinking at that moment in time.

Troy hadn't spoken to her in so many years, but he still thought about her from time to time,

and thinking about her just then brought back so many memories.

_Sharpay..._

Troy knew it was silly, considering he hadn't spoken to her in the longest time, but he somehow wished that it was _her _sitting across from him, giving him that mysterious look once again, at that exact moment. He wanted to be asking _her _to one day soon by his wife, not Gabriella. He wanted to be holding _Sharpay's _hand and giving _her _a proposal speech.

That's when he remembered.

He knew that it was probably really dumb, and everyone would have made fun of him back then if they knew, but when Troy was in middle school- a little while before Sharpay and his dumb cousin Justin got together, he used to practice proposal speeches in his room. Of course, his 'rehearsal speeches' would be directed at Sharpay, as he'd always hoped that one day it would be _real_, and that the actual day that it came, he wanted to be completely and totally prepared for her. So that's why he'd started praciticing what he would say earlier.

Maybe that's why he had turned out to be an actor- he was always 'acting' and rehearsing lines even when he didn't realize before that it would help his career in the future.

Troy thought of Sharpay and her beautiful hazel eyes and perfect blonde hair. Gosh, she was so gorgeous...she always had been, and he bet a million bucks that she still was. He remembered imagining once that his wedding proposal to her took place in a nice restaraunt- similar to the one he was at now with Gabriella. He remembered imagining staring into her eyes.

Her big, beautiful chocolate eyes...

He'd pictured clutching her hand tightly, as he was doing with Gabriella now.

And suddenly, the lines just started spilling from his mouth.

"I think you're beautiful...and perfect, and just an all around amazing, good person." he spoke, dedicating his words one hundred percent to his life long love that he wished he'd never lost contact with, of course without Gabriella's knowledge.

"I love everything about you, and every minute that I spend with you, is a minute I'll never forget." Troy continued. Gabriella smiled at his words, having no way of knowing that they were in no way truly meant for her.

"I've been in love with you for so long, your laugh and smile is so contagious. You are the sweetest person I've ever met in my life..."

Okay, so maybe now it was getting a bit cheesy. But Troy didn't care, this was truly what he had remembered feeling for Sharpay Evans before, and he wondered that if by some crazy, random twist of fate in the future if he ever ran into her, his old feelings would return.

"I've never been happier then when I'm with you, and I want to spend every second of my life from here on out with you." he said. Tears sprung Gabriella's eyes. She had a feeling she knew what was coming.

"So..." Troy said, pulling out the velvet box and getting down on one kneee. Gabriella gasped as he opened the box to reveal a simple, but beautiful ring; one clean cut diamed on a shiny golden band.

Gabriella's gasp sudeenly snapped Troy back into reality from his daydream about Sharpay. Thank god. He was able to catch himself before he accidentally said "Sharpay, will you marry me?"

Instead, he managed to force out the concluding line to his proposal speech:

"Gabriella Montez, will you marry me?"

and the next thing he knew, she was on her feet, pulling him to his feet and kissing him happily.

He decided to take that as a yes.

So in no time at all, she would be Gabriella Montez...Bolton.

And he would be her husband.

* * *

_A/N: Yippie! I finished chapter one! Sorry for spelling errors or anything, truth be told, I kinda rushed through the end with only skimming back a little bit because it's 9:00 PM and I have some retarded History timeline about United States History to write still-due tomorrow. Starting with the Vikings landing in the year 1000 and ending with the whole current financial problems and the possibly Great Depression Two thing. (Which by the way is scary, we may be reliving the 1920's people!)_

_Anyways, before I end this droning author's note, have you all seen the endless gag me with an artificial sweetener worthy Zanessa posts on Just Jared? Oh yeah, they totally scream publicity. Just remember that, kay? :D it's also kinda funny that the Zanessa fans were freaking out cuz Zac had his hand on Ashley's waist. calm down psychs...jeeze..._

_So yeah, that's all for now. What did ya'll think of that Alonso dude? xD Remember to review! :)_

_-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx_

_:)_


	4. 2: Welcome Home!

**Disclaimer: **Who owns HSM anyway? Whatev_errrrrrrr_, it certainly isn't me. Harrumph.

* * *

**All In The Family**

**_Chapter Two - Welcome Home!_**

**T**he next morning, Gabriella was annoyed to be woken by the loud ringing sound that burst through the condo.

"Troy." she groaned, thrusting her right arm out and lightly hitting her fiance in the chest, not bothering to open her eyes. There was no response.

"Troy, answer the phone." she said, a little louder. She heard him mumble something before getting up. Troy lazily made his way into the living room, where the nearest phone was.

"Hello?" he yawned into the phone, without bothering to look at the caller ID. Balancing the telephone between his ear and shoulder, he stretched.

"_Troy! Glad to hear you're up son, how are you doing?!_" piped the wide awake voice of Jack Bolton- calling from Troy's hometown, Albuquerque.

"Hi, dad. Actually, your phone call is what woke me up." Troy said honestly, less cheerily than his father as he rubbed the sleep from his blue eyes. "But I'm doing ok. How are you and mom?" he asked, deciding to attempt being the polite and interested son that he usually was. He spoke to his parents every so often, but not as much as he would like to since he was always busily running around working in Hollywood and whatnot. Being an actor wasn't exactly easy.

The last time he'd spoken to his parents was a couple of weeks ago.

"_The early bird gets the worm, Troy. And I believe it's nine in the morning over there in California." _came his mother's voice from a different phone.

"Hi, mom."

_"Yeah Troy...up and at em!" _Jack added, in reference to what his wife had said.

"Yeah, yeah." Troy answered with another yawn, not really up for dealing with his parents overly enthused voices this early. Today was his day off, he'd planned on spending it sleeping in. Especially after a long day yesterday.

_Oh crap,_ he remembered. _I'm engaged._

_"Anyways, remember how I brought up that pretty soon we'd be planning a big family get together?_" Jack recalled, getting on with the point of this phone call.

"Yeah..." Troy said reluctantly.

_"Well, the plans are set! Pack your bags and head on up here next Saturday!" _Jack enthused.

"Dad...it's really not that simple," Troy said, "I have a lot of work to do. And then with the engagement and everything-"

"_Whoa whoa whoa. Slow down, ENGAGEMENT?!" _Lucille Bolton gasped. "_You got _engaged_ and didn't tell us- your own parents?_"

"Mom it just happened last night. I-"

_"Well why didn't you at least tell us you were going to propose?!_"

Troy was silent for a moment- pondering over if he should tell his parents that it really wasn't entirely up to him. As far as they knew, he was really completely head over heels in love with Gabriella. No one besides him, Chad, and Taylor knew the entire truth. (And Taylor only knew because Chad just couldn't keep his big mouth shut about anything. There was not one thing he had hidden from his wife...that Troy knew of anyway.)

"It's complicated." he finally answered with no emotion.

_"Troy, I don't care how complicated it is! I-"_

_"Lucille, he's 27, we don't need to go poking into his life 24/7 anymore..._" Troy heard Jack say to his mom, obviously trying to calm her.

_"Oh but it's ok for all those paparazzi slobs to go poking into his life, but not his own parents?!_" Lucille pointed out, her tone not lightening to a calmer one. _"That just doesn't seem right!_"

"I was going to save it for when I sent out the wedding invitations." Troy quickly thought up. "I wanted it to be a surprise." he added, wondering if that was a good enough excuse. "I don't even think anyone knows yet besides Gabby and I. No one was really around." he lied.

_Yeah...no one except a whole restaraunt full of people who are sure to leak it to the press. But I guess that's kind of the point... _Troy thought. He was doing it all for publicity anyways.

Anyways, he couldn't tell his parents the whole truth right now even if he wanted too. Not when Gabriella was just in the next room over. It'd be too risky.

"_See Lucille? It was going to be a surprise._" Jack said. _"It doesn't mean he's kicking us out of his life completely."_

_"Good, 'cause that's not what I said anyways, Jack_."

_"You implied it. You nearly had a heart attack just now when you found out that he didn't tell us he was proposing sooner."_

_"I wasn't implying anything!" _Lucille snapped offensively at her husband. _"I was just saying that-"_

"Mom! Dad! Enough already!" Troy cut in. "I swear, you two are the perfect example of why people say 'they were fighting like an old married couple'." he remarked with a light chuckle.

_"Har Har Troy, so are you coming or not? We really would like for you to come." _his dad said- getting back to the main point of interest.

Troy hesitated. "I don't know...I mean...I've been really busy lately. I told you that the show hasn't been getting many viewers lately. Gabby and I and the producers have to work really hard to get the ratings back up. I don't know if I can risk taking that much time off." he replied honestly. It wasn't that he didn't want to see his parents, it was that he really was worried about his career that seemed to be going nowhere lately.

_"Come on son, it'll only be a week or so_." Jack tried.

"That's a long time."

_"What did you expect? For the entire family to just catch up in one or two days?_" Lucille asked.

"Entire family?" Try squeeked. "Wait, _who's_ all going to be there again?"

_"The goal is everyone. But that can't happen if one of our very own songs isn't present." _his mom said pointedly.

"Everyone? You mean..." Troy trailed off as one person in particular popped in to his mind. Uh-oh. Now he had two reasons not to go. His job, and that lowlife, greedy, asshole jerk, idiotic cousin of his.

Justin Bolton.

"_Mich, Trisha, Tommy, Justin, Lisa, Adam_..." Lucille said, and went off listing several more of her neices and nephews and uncles and aunts of Troys. He had two sisters- Michelle (Mich) and Trisha, and one brother- Tom, but everyone apparently still called him Tommy. Was it sad that the last time he'd spoken to any of his siblings was five years ago? (Minus Mich...who he talked to about as often as his parents.)

Tommy was two years older then Troy. Troy had never been very close with Tommy, but Justin worshipped the ground he walked on. Or- he did anyway, when they were younger. Troy had last spoken with Tommy when the four Bolton siblings had visited their parents five years ago for Christmas. He was married at the age of 25, and his wife- Megan, was a real bitch. Even more so then Gabriella.

_Megan and Gabriella would probably get along. _Troy thought.

Two years ago, Lucille and Jack had informed Troy that Megan had given birth to two twin boys- Travis and Trent.

Trisha was three years younger then Troy. He never used to see her around the house much. She never would come out and play with the neighborhood kids; she used to spend her life locked up in her room, reading. Trisha was a quiet gal- not many friends, overly shy and all. Never had a boyfriend. But when she was twenty (four years ago) she immediatley fell in love with some guy she met at a local poetry reading at some quiet coffee shop and according to the gos Troy heard from his parents, Trisha was currently living in Kansas with her hubby and was a stay at home mother, with one overly well behaved child named Jeniffer, (Jenna, they called her.) who was four. When Trisha and her husband, Joshua got married, it hadn't been a big official wedding or anything. It had been kind of a spur of the moment thing.

Michelle (aka Troy's favorite sibling) was twenty nine years old and lived in Michigan. She was a nurse, and was getting married to her fiance, Kaden, next winter. She'd already pre-invited Troy to the wedding. Michelle and Kaden already had a child- James (Jimmy), was his name. He was six years old. Why Michelle and Kaden were just barely getting married was beyond Troy. But Michelle said that it was because they wanted Jimmy to be their ring bearer and he was finally old enough to handle that responsibility.

And here was Troy, twenty seven years old; an actor living in fancy Beverly Hills, California- and not in love like the rest of his siblings, but getting married anyways.

He didn't know really what any of his cousins did for a living. Except Justin who he'd heard was now a math teacher or soemthing. Justin had been the only one of his cousins that had actually lived with Troy, Michelle, Tommy, Trisha, Jack, and Lucille when he was growing up. There were three different Boltn families living in and around the same area though- Jack's brother and Troy's uncle, Robert had lived just a couple blocks over with his wife and Troy's aunt Marceline, and Troy's cousins and Robert and Marceline's kids Adam and Lisa who were now both in their early twenties with no kids. (But Adam had a girlfriend and Lisa had a boyfriend)

Jack's sister (Troy's aunt) Penelope had been a single mother of one- Lydia-May, who according to Troy's dad, was now thirty one and was divorced from her husband and had three kids. Brianna (age nine) Mackenzie (age eleven) and Gavin(age five.)

Finally there was Troy's uncle Joseph, who had always been and still was a single man at the age of fifty seven.

All of that made up the three Bolton family generations around Albuquerque, which Troy was constantly being reinformed about from his parents and Michelle. Now what was left was Justin.

Justin Bolton had been a single child living with his parents Taylor-Anne and Richie (Richard). But when Justin was seven years old, both of his parents died in a plane crash on their way to a trip to Hawaii for their wedding anniversary. (Taylor-Anne had also been Troy's aunt and Jack's sister.)

Justin had since lived with Troy and his family.

"_Troy? Troy? Hello?_"

the voice of Lucille broke him out of his thoughts. She'd been waiting for him to say something for a while as she had already finished listing off the names of their relatives who were going to be present at the family reunion next Saturday. "What? Oh yeah sorry I'm here." Troy said.

"_Great, and you'll be _here _next Saturday then, right?_" came his father's persistant and determined to get his son to come to the family gathering, voice.

Troy was silent for a moment. He was about ready to give in.

"Well..." he trailed off, thinking in worry about his busy schedule. He had an interview on some talkshow next Saturday which would obviously have to be just one of many things cancelled if he decided to go and spend quality time with a family that, he was sure hated his guts with the minor exceptions of his parents and Michelle.

Then again...everything was in the past, right? Everyone (meaning his cousins and the rest of his siblings) should have grown up and matured by now.

"_We'll be dissapointed if you don't come, Troy._" Lucille said- now trying to play the guilt trip on her son. _"You have to come. We haven't seen you up here in Albuquerque for five years!" _she exclaimed wishing she didn't have to practically beg him.

Troy couldn't say no. How could he? It would just make him look like a fame-starved, bad son if he did. Maybe taking a break from all of the ups and downs that fame brought him would do him good.

"Okay...I'll uh... think about it, mom."

_Lame answer. _Troy thought, mad at himself. _I'm such a jackass._

"Whose on the phone, Troy?" the voice of Gabriella suddenly asked as she emerged from the bedroom. Before Troy could respond, the phone was being snatched from his hand and being put on speaker phone.

"_You'll think about it?_" Jack Bolton was now saying. _"Give us a straight answer Troy, are you coming to our family reunion or not? Enough of these games. Make up your mind._" he sounded annoyed by this point. Gabriella's eyebrows shot up.

_A family reunion, huh? How sweet. _She thought. Hm...she'd never met (let alone spoken to) Troy's parents. and now she figured since they were getting married that maybe it's about time she did...

"What's your dad's name again?" she whispered to Troy.

"Jack..." he reluctantly answered, ashamed that she didn't even know as little about his parents as their _names_- all because of him. He honestly didn't know why he kept his family life well seperated from his career life, but he felt kind of bad about it.

"Hello Jack, this is Gabriella. Troy's _fiance._I'm sure you've heard lots about me- whether it was from Troy here or the many magazine covers I've been featured on," Gabriella said proudly. Troy resisted the urge to scoff. _Someone _was a little full of themselves.

"I don't know what silly excuse Troy has come up with far-"

(_"Gabriella_!" Troy hissed, "_Don't_ say **that!**")

"-but I can assure you that we'll be there." Gabriella continued into the phone, waving Troy away. "When did you say this little...roundup-assemblage of yours was going down again?"

Jack, on the other end of the line, was dumbstruck. And it was evident in his voice. "_Er...reunion, you mean? Next Saturday. You know, I don't believe I've ever spoken with you, Gabriella_."

"Aw, well it's so nice to finally change that. Looking forward to next Saturday." she said in an overly sweet honey-coated voice.

_"As are we_." Lucille chimed in.

Troy stared wide-eyed at Gabriella as she said her final goodbyes to his parents and hung up the phone. She smiled at him.

Looks like all the plans were set.

It was now a hot Thursday afternoon in California. Troy, Gabriella, and even...Chad were set to leave for a long road trip to New Mexico. (Well, once Gabriella was ready anyways.)

* * *

"Tell me again why you're making _me _go with _you _to _your _family reunion?" a confused and annoyed Chad Danforth grunted as he attempted to shove a couple of large suitcases (Gabriella's, of course) down in the trunk of Troy's silver Land Rover. "And what the hell does Gabriella have in these bags? It's only one week for christ's sake! Did she really have to pack her entire wardrobe?!" he exclaimed. Troy rolled his eyes. He'd been standing by the car with his arms crossed, but now had uncrossed them and was attempting to help Chad pack the bags down into the trunk- it was so full to the point that they were finding a hard time simply trying to get the trunk door to shut.

"Ha! Entire wardrobe?!" Troy scoffed, "You haven't even seen a fourth of it, _buddy_." he said bitterly as he gave the suitcases push after push. "And you listen to me, Chad. For one thing, if I leave you here alone for a week while I'm gone in New Mexico, who knows what kind of stupid thing you'll tell the media about me? I wouldn't even be here to clear it up- after all, it was your fault last year that some rumor started that I got Gabriella pregnant and then made her get an abortion!"

"Hey, I apologized for that and cleared it all up...eventually." Chad defended, "And come on- you gotta admit that e_ggnog _sounds a lot like _pregnant_." (Last Christmas, Chad and Taylor had been at Troy's condo with Gabriella there as well. Troy had just returned home from the grocery store saying "Here, I got you eggnog." to Gabriella, who'd replied "Ew I hate eggnog! Why would you get me that?!" and Troy had sighed and said "Okay, fine, just go get rid of it then.)

Naturally, someone like Chad would substitute get rid of into abort- therefore, _abortion_. He didn't even have enough sense to ask about it first before opening his big mouth to the press which started one hell of a nasty rumor.

"No Chad, eggnog sounds nothing like pregnant, idiot." Troy snorted. "Anyway..." he said, now slamming his elbows into the suitcases, "that's just one reason you have to come with us."

"Oh, so you actually have another legimate reason?" Chad asked sarcastically as he karate-kicked at Gabriella's suitcases.

"Put it this way," Troy grunted, as the two men rammed their shoulders into trunk full of stuffed suitcases. "I'm going to be spending a whole week with a family that has practically become strangers to me by now. Do you realize I haven't even met hardly any of my own nephews or neices yet? Anyway, unless it's all changed by now, my brothers, sisters, and cousins are real pains in my ass while they spend time kissing Justin's ass. Not only that, but in the mean time, I'm still having to put up with a whiny bitch who, because of you, I am getting married to real soon. So you know what, Chad? _If I'm going down, you're doing down with me_!" he hissed.

"I feel so honored." Chad remarked sarcastically.

"Yeah, well- what are best friends for?" was Troy's response as the two of them fought with the trunk hood. After a little while longer of struggling, they finally managed to get it closed.

"Finally." Troy sighed, leaning back against the car.

"You know, I thought the whole point of a family reunion was for ahem- _the family _to all kiss _each others _asses and catch up and all that crap." Chad said. "Not for some coward to drag along his publicist for moral support!"

"So? Screw the point." Troy snapped. "I'm only going to please my parents anyway, and I already called my dad yesterday to tell them you were coming."

"And?"

"They said 'great!'" Troy replied honestly, not mentioning that his dad had sounded rather sarcastic when he'd said that.

Chad didn't say anything.

"TROY! Where's my red sunhat?!" Gabriella cried as she came sauntering out of the house wearing a white sundress, red peep toe heels and large black designer sunglasses. Troy swallowed in panic.

"Gabby- you packed it, remember?" he said, knowing that Gabriella would not settle for that answer. She scowled as she approached him, placing her hands firmly on her hips.

"I did?! Well then, I suggest you open that trunk and get it out for me!"

Troy and Chad groaned as they went to open the trunk, knowing that they would have to struggle with that stupid trunk door all over again after Troy dug the sunhat out.

* * *

"Oh my god! Justin look- see that old bowling alley over there?"

"Yep." a very unintersted Justin Bolton replied, not taking his eyes off of the road. Sharpay remained oblivious to that fact as she grinned out the window of the passenger seat, reminiscing through her childhood experiences which were all but mere memories by now.

"Remember our first date?" she asked her boyfriend with a giggle, which was followed by a content sigh.

"Uh-huh." Justin replied, boredly tapping the steering wheel as they came to a red stoplight and Sharpay went into a full detailed recall of their first official 'date' when they were thirteen and fourteen when they'd spent an entire day at that bowling alley together- just the two of them.

"It was so hot that day," Sharpay remembered as she rambled on. "By the way, I totally beat you at practically every round we bowled then."

Justin didn't reply, he was too busy slamming his head against the steering wheel by now- this went unnoticed by his girlfriend who was having a nice time drinking in her surroundings- the surroundings of Albuquerque, New Mexico.

Finally, the light turned green.

"It's been so long since we've been here." Sharpay mumbled, now more so to herself then to Justin. "It's so great to be back!" she enthused, rubbing her hands together excitedly.

"Mhmm."

"So, who're you looking forward to seeing the most?" she asked, finally turning to Justin as she tried to make conversation. She hated ever having silence- she didn't care if that question sounded dumb.

He shrugged. "Oh I don't know...everyone's family." he replied, really caring less.

"Yeah," Sharpay smiled. "I _love _your family. They were like, my second family."

"Uh-huh." Justin nodded as he continued driving. Just two more miles at they would be there- at his old house with his aunt and uncle- Lucille and Jack Bolton, and plenty of his cousins.

Talk about nerves.

* * *

"Troooooooooooooooooooooo-ooooooooooy!! When the hell're we gonna get there?!" came the shrill whiny voice of no one other then Gabriella Montez as she attempted fanning herself with one hand. "It's _so _hot!"

Gabriella had the airconditioning turned up on full blast, the windows rolled down, a mini red fan in the hand she wasn't already fanning herself with, and that unusually large red sunhat on, and yet; that _still _wasn't enough to keep her from complaining.

"Gabby, we'll be there soon, I promise." Troy assured her, wondering how the hell a person could live in California her whole life and still not being used to burning heat by now. This was New Mexico anyways, what did she expect? Ice caves? Igloos? Eskimos?!

Well, whether she was expecting Eskimos or not, she would soon have to learn to deal with coyote howls instead. First though, she had to learn to put up with the heat that summer in New Mexico brought her.

"How soon?" she demanded.

"Ten minutes tops. We're almost there." Troy promised, glancing in his rear view mirror at Chad who was in the backseat; sound asleep and snoring.

"Would you tell that loser to shut up?" Gabriella snapped, fidgeting uncomfortably in her seat as she glared back at the sleeping figure that was Chad Danforth. Troy rolled his eyes to himself.

"If we've been able to deal with it for the last half an hour, I think we can deal with it for ten more minutes." he replied. Gabriella leaned back in her seat with a huff.

"_Fine_." she spat.

* * *

"Aw, it looks just like I remembered it!" Sharpay grinned, climbing out of the car and staring up at her boyfriend's old house. She glanced at Justin to see his reaction which turned out to not be near as exciting as hers. He was yawning, and glancing at his watch for the time. It was about eleven in the morning. (Saturday.)

"'Kay I'm just gonna get our bags out of the-" Justin started, but frowned upon seeing that Sharpay was already halfway up the white porch steps.

"-trunk." he finished with a sigh before running after her.

Meanwhile, up at the house, Sharpay raised her hand to knock on the front door, but it was quickly pulled open before she could do so.

"Sharpay!" came the cheerful warm voice of Lucille Bolton. Sharpay's grin grew wider when she saw the older woman who had always been like a second mother to her, and the two of them were together in a bone-crushing hug within a second.

"Oh, honey." Lucille sighed happily, finally pulling away from the younger woman. "Here, let me get a better look at you." she smiled. "My, my. Even more beautiful then when I last saw you! That Justin- he's lucky to have you."

Sharpay giggled. "You're looking great too, Lucille." she said as Justin appeared beside her on the porch. "It's so great to see you, by the way!"

"You too honey, and it's so nice to see that you and Justin are still together." Lucille said, grinning back and forth from her nephew to Sharpay, who flashed each other quick smiles.

"Hi, aunt Lucy." Justin chuckled, hugging his aunt.

"Well, come in, come in! Jack's out on the patio getting the steaks ready." Lucille said, ushering to couple inside.

"Ooh, steaks? Looks like we came at the right time." Justin said. Sharpay flicked him in the side of the head, whispering "Be more polite to the woman who raised you, J."

"So is anyone else here yet?" Justin asked his aunt, draping one arm around Sharpay and following Lucille out to the backyard.

"Trisha's in the bathroom getting Jenna washed up for lunch. Joshua's...well, we're not sure where he went." she laughed. "But, other then that, you're the first ones to arrive." (A/N: Remember; Trisha is Troy's younger sister. Jenna is her 4 year old daughter. Joshua is her husband.)

"Well, it _is _pretty early." Sharpay commented as the threesome joined Jack Bolton on the patio.

"Jack, look whose here!" Lucille said to her husband in a sing-song voice as they approached him. He turned from his BBQ grill and smiled at the sight of his nephew and his girlfriend.

"Oh! Hey there, you two!" he said, giving each of them a hug before turning back to the grill.

"Nevermind him, he's been in this weird obsessed-with-cooking stage." Lucille explained his actions, glaring at the back of her husbands head. "Doesn't really seem to care for anything else."

"Hush up, Lucy. I'm still listening to everything you're saying." Jack called over his shoulder. "So, how have you two been?" he asked Justin and Sharpay. Just then, the four of them heard the doorbell ringing from inside the sliding glass doors of the house.

"Oh I'll get that." Lucille said, disappearing inside. Jack, Justin, and Sharpay listened as Lucille's excited cry rang throughout the house.

"Oh my goodness! You look so much different in person then on those magazine covers! How great it is to see you, son!"

Justin resisted the urge to roll his eyes to himself. He could pretty much guess who had arrived.

"And oh! You must be Gabriella, congratulations on the engagement!" Lucille said excitedly as she welcomed the latina woman inside. Gabriella's eyebrows shot up.

_What does she MEAN 'I must be Gabriella?!' _she thought offensively. _Of course I'm Gabriella! I'm Gabriella Montez- the one and only!_

"Thank you. It's nice to meet you." she replied instead.

"Hi, so you're Troy's mom?" Chad cut in politely, sticking his hand out to his best friend's mother. "I'm Chad. Pleasure to meet you." he smiled.

"Yeah, Chad's my..." Troy trailed off, wondering if he should introduce Chad as his friend or publicist. "Best friend." he finally decided on saying.

"Oh yes, Troy's mentioned you before." Lucille smiled, shaking Chad's hand. "Well why don't the three of you come out back? Justin just got here- with Sharpay. Where are your suitcases?" Lucille asked, as she began walking away from the front door. Troy, Gabriella, and Chad followed.

"Still in the car." Chad answered. Troy was too nervous to answer. Did she just say that _Justin and Sharpay were here?_ Already? Troy knew he was going to have to face the two of them during this family gathering, (since his dad had once mentioned to him a couple of months ago that those two were still together) he just had no idea it would be right when he got there.

_Wow, been here thirty seconds and already that jackass Justin is wedging his way back into my life! _he thought bitterly.

His mom had been chattering animatedly the whole way out to the backyard, but Troy hadn't been paying much attention- he was to lost in thought.

But then sudddenly, when he stepped out on to the front porch and three figures- two men and a woman, turned at the sound of more people approaching, his breath caught in his throat as his blue eyes locked with two curious brown ones. Reluctantly, he drew his eyes away from hers and scanned over the blank-looking face of his cousin and the smiling, welcoming face of his father.

"Troy!" piped Jack, turning his attention away from his grill as he went to pat on the back and hug his son.

"Hi, dad." Troy smiled politley at his father.

"Oh, I'm so glad that you decided to come, Troy. It means a lot to your father and I. Welcome home!" Lucille grinned.

"Yeah, good to see you're finally taking a break from all that Hollywood maddness." Jack agreed with a laugh as Gabriella and Chad stood awkwardly behind Troy.

Sharpay, standing just mere feet away, watched the scene in front of her carefully. Not quite knowing if she should speak up herself, or stay quiet. But it didn't matter anyways since Justin beat her to it.

"Hey 'cous, what's up?" he asked casually, as if Troy and himself hadn't actually been avoiding each other for the last several years.

"Justin." Troy nodded, eyeing his cousin as his dad went to introduce himself formally to Chad and Gabriella.

"Not much. You?"

Justin shrugged. "Not much here either." he said, wrapping one arm around Sharpay and drawing her close to him with a small smile. "You remember Sharpay." he said, declaring it rather then asking it.

_Of course I remember her! _Troy wanted to scream. _How could I ever forget the person I loved the most ever since elementary school and all through high school? The girl you stole from me._

Troy stared at her. She was smiling. He wasn't. Her smile made his heart break and he knew that even though it was silly and nearly impossible, he still hadn't gotten over her after all these years. She was so beautiful- she still looked like her, but also looked different in so many ways. She was older now and more mature looking. Her bleach blonde wavy hair had turned into dirty blonde straight hair, but she was still gorgeous all the same. One thing that hadn't changed was the brown shini-ness of her eyes. Her best feature, Troy had always thought.

The thing that broke his heart though, was that _Justin _had her. Out of all the biggest assholes in the world, Justin Bolton had someone as sweet and perfect (in Troy's opinion) as Sharpay Evans, and that bugged the crap out of him.

"Of course. Hi...Sharpay." he finally said, forcing a smile. Sharpay shrugged Justin's arm off of her and went to hug Troy, surprising both men, but she remained oblivious to that fact.

Justin watched jealously as his girlfriend continued to squeeze the life out of his cousin, who was hugging her back reluctantly.

"Oh my gosh! Troy Bolton..._hi_! Wow! It's been so long! How have you been?" Sharpay laughed, pulling away finally after several seconds and grinning at the guy she hadn't seen in person since high school. "I mean I've seen you in the movies and a few episodes of your show and stuff but-"

"Oh- you watch my movies?" Troy asked, secretly pleased as he cut her off. Suddenly, he felt better by learning that fact. But maybe his change in moods also had something to do with the pissed off look on his cousin's face as he watched them hug. It was priceless.

Sharpay's face turned a light shade of pink, realizing that what she'd just said could have made her sound like a weird stalkerish person.

"Well...maybe. You know, when I'm...bored." she coughed, trying to sound casual.

Lie.

Whenever a new movie with Troy Bolton came out, she'd always been first in line to see it. Justin knew that too- and it bugged him to no end, but he didn't comment. Why give his pitiful little cousin the satisfaction of knowing?

"Oh, okay." Troy said, smiling. She looked too cute when she blushed. "Well- I've been...good. Busy. Yeah...really busy. My job...I mean, it's hectic, you know?"

"Oh, what do we have here?" Gabriella suddenly asked nosily, butting into the conversation. She'd been watching as that stranger blonde girl hugged _her _fiance- and it didn't make her happy. So she wanted to get to the bottom of it.

Troy closed his eyes dreadfully for a moment. He'd almost forgot that she was there.

"Oh- hey Gab. Where's Chad?" he asked, looking around and not seeing his friend, his mom, OR his dad anywhere. Wow, how had they all left without him realizing it?

"Oh, him and your mom and dad went to go unpack the trunk." Gabriella explained. "SO," she then said quickly, getting back to her point of interest. "Whose your friend?" she asked with a large fake smile, grabbing Troy's hand. Sharpay was leaning into Justin's side.

"This is my cousin, Justin, and his girlfriend Sharpay." Troy said, feeling like he could throw up at any second as he introduced the two.

_Justin's girlfriend Sharpay_. He thought angrily, hating the sound of that.

"And this is my fiance...Gabriella."

"Oh, how nice it is to meet you- Justine, Sharpla." Gabriella said in one of the most fake polite voices a person could ever use after eyeing the other woman up and down. She didn't even bother to hide the disapproving look on her normaly pretty face.

Sharpay and Justin exchanged 'what the heck'? looks at Gabriella's obviously purposely or just not caringly incorrect usage of their names.

"Oh um...you too, Gabriella." Sharpay answered kindly nonetheless. She knew who Gabriella was- Troy's girlfriend and costar in that TV show they were in together. But she didn't know they were_ engaged._

_"_Oh- you two are engaged?" she asked curiously. Gabriella nodded slowly, eyes wide, as if to say _'No DUH, you idiot._'

"Wow. Didn't know that- well, congratulations." Sharpay smiled. Justin nodded along with her- mainly because he felt he had to.

"Yes, and we're very happy." Gabriella cooed without a thank-you, giving Troy a kiss on the cheek. He fought back the urge to wipe that spot on his cheek hard.

Instead, he nodded. "Yeah."

After that, the four of them stared awkwardly at each other, blinking in wonderment, all thinking the exact same thing;

_Now what happens?_

* * *

_A/N: Longest chapter I've ever written. xP sorry, got a bit carried away there. I intended to stop before the arrivals, but thought it would have been too short then, so I decided to just keep on going. I hope you guys liked it, even if you thought it was boringish xD._

_Oh by the way, this is totally beside the point of anything, but did anyone else hear that Jamie Lynn Spears is pregnant AGAIN?! Daaaang! That girl never knows when to stop, does she? I wonder if it's true though. I think it is...but who really knows for sure? Hm._

_Also, I know that early in this chapter I probably spent waaay to much time talking about allll of those original characters, and I apologize. But it's a family reunion- there's gotta be a lot of people! So I had to put all of Troy's family members and who they were so it seemed more realistic, but don't worry, this story will still of course be completely focused around Troy x Sharpay x Justin x Gabriella and maybe sometimes Chad. Oh and you may be confused as to why Chad's there- well, there's a reason for that. Which will come up later._

_Anyways, thanks for all the great reviews to far. :) loveyouguys! Review again? :D_

_-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx_


	5. 3: Dude, I'll Beat the Dude Out of You!

_I started this chapter a **loooooooooooooooooooonggggg** time ago- like, two days after the last chapter was posted. and like barely just finished it....I know I probably seem really flaky...since I keep promising I'll update things but never seem to anyway....I feel really bad and embarassed about it, so I'm so sorry for the long wait on this and slow updates on my other stories. I hope I have some readers left._

**Disclaimer: **I don't own HSM.

* * *

**All In The Family**

**_Chapter Three - Dude, I'll Beat the Dude Out of You!_**

**I**t was now three PM. More people had arrived since noon, and plenty of awkward "hello's" and some casual, some excited "how have you been?"s had since been exchanged between the family members. Most of it had all gone by in a blur for Troy, who had now escaped into his old room (with Gabriella hot on his heels) to unpack- hey, it was a good getaway excuse, right?

"I don't like her." Gabriella said out of the random from her spot at the window where she was standing, staring down at the crowd of people in the yard outside.

"Who?" Troy asked, placing a rolled up pair of socks into the wooden, used-to-be empty, now almost completely full (mostly thanks to Gabriella's unusually large wardrobe) set of drawers.

"That Sharpo woman."

Troy almost couldn't help but laugh. What kind of a name was _Sharpo_?

"You mean Sharp_ay_?" he corrected with a slightly amused chuckle as he continued placing miscellanious pieces of clothing into the dresser set.

Gabriella huffed. "Whatever- same difference! Sharpay, Sharpo, _Shampoo_, who cares?" she snapped.

"Well, okay... well... why don't you like her? You really don't even know her..."

"Exactly. I _don't_ know her- I don't know what she's capable of; and the way she was hanging all over you when we first got here really said something about her!"

"What?" Troy shook his head. As much as he'd like to believe that Sharpay could be interested in him, he knew that had to be crazy- she'd been with Justin for _how _many years now? He shuddered at that- his own internal point made.

"Come on Gabby, I haven't seen her since high school. It was a casual thing when she hugged me. She was just a childhood friend, that's all." Troy quickly assured Gabriella- yes, okay that was true...she _was _just a childhood _friend_....even though he'd always hoped otherwise. But there was no way in hell he was going to tell Gabriella that; unless he wanted his head ripped off, smothered in mud and thrown into a lake. "Besides,she's with my cousin, remember?" he didn't want to say **his **name. "You don't need to be jealous. Nothing's up."

"Jealous? Why would _I _be jealous?" Gabriella threw her head back and flipped her hair dramatically. "I could have any man that I wanted, Troy. You're just lucky I chose you-"

"Oh yeah, I _feel _lucky." Troy muttered sarcastically as he continued to unpack, but Gabriella thankfully didn't seem to notice his remark- she was too busy going off on her rant.

"-but _because _I chose you, I don't appreciate some bimbo that never wipes that stupid fake smile off her face and looks like she wants to pounce right on you any chance she gets-"

"I think you're overreacting a bit." Troy mumbled, thoroughly convinced that his fiance' was delusional- _pounce on me any chance she gets? _he thought, shocked. _Well, that'd be nice, wouldn't it? But it aint happening!_

Before Gabriella could respond to that 'accusation', there was a light knock on the door.

"Come in!" Troy called through the door, actually thankful for the interruption. The door opened and she entered with a kind smile on her face.

"Speak of the devil." Gabriella said bitterly with a scowl, before disappearing into the bathroom connected to the bedroom and slamming the door shut behind her. The smile quickly left Sharpay's face, and was replaced with an alarmed, confused look.

"Did I catch you at a bad time?" she asked Troy worriedly, not asking why they'd been talking about her beforehand- since Gabriella had said 'speak of the devil', even if she was wondering if and why they'd been talking about her..

"Nah." Troy said with a nonchalant wave of his hand in the restroom's direction where Gabriella now was. He felt bad an embarassed, actually.

"Don't mind Gabriella. She's just not having a very good day is all." he said. She nodded, but still seemed unconvinced anyway. "How come?" she asked after a momentary slightly awkward silence.

"Oh...well uh...all the stress of unpacking and meeting lots of new people and stuff, you know." he answered lamely, scratching the back of his head.

"Really? Oh...well I mean...wouldn't she be used to that? Meeting new people. I guess I figured since she's famous...she travels a lot too, doesn't she?"

_Oh crap_, Troy thought. Sharpay had a good point, and she obviously wasn't buying his lame excuse. Another awkward silence fell over them, and it was making Troy nervous. He didn't know what to say, and she must have sensed his discomfort because after a while she spoke up.

"I'm sorry. I shouldn't be questioning you and her, it's really none of my business." she said apologetically.

"No, it's okay. She was just nervous about....meeting my family, I guess." he finally came up with. She just nodded.

"So um...whatcha need?" Troy asked with a polite smile, trying to reverse the topic from Gabriella's bitter attitude to something- anything else and not wanting to have another awkward silence creep up on them.

"Oh right, there _was_ a point in my interruption up here." Sharpay giggled at herself. "Lucille was wondering where you were. She sent me up here to look for you- she wants you to, and I quote exactly- 'associate more with the people you grew up with'." she smiled.

"Okay, I'll be right down." Troy chuckled, "Hey by the way, have you seen Chad?" he asked her.

"Your friend? Um yeah I think I last saw him hanging around the food table outside..."

"Sounds like Chad alright." Troy rolled his eyes. Sharpay giggled again. "Okay, well I'll see you -and Gabriella- down there then in a few." she said, turning around to leave.

"Hey Sharpay," Troy suddenly then called, stopping her. She turned back around and looked at him. "Yeah?"

He just smiled. It actually was good to see her again after all these years. In fact, if you took away the jerk cousin that he strongly disliked, and the overly jealous fiance' of his, he might actually be enjoying this entire reunion already.

"You look great."

She grinned at the compliment, and Troy could almost swear he saw a light blush creep upon her cheeks.

"Thanks, you too, Troy." she said, "I think you and I should catch up some more later," she suggested casually, and Troy nodded.

"Yeah....definitley." he agreed.

"Okay." she nodded one last time and dissappeared from the room, leaving him standing alone by the chest of drawers wondering: _How much is later?_...

* * *

"Oh Troy, there you are!" the voice of his mother greeted him. "So Sharpay came to get you? I'm glad, I was beginning to wonder if you'd ditched already." she laughed.

"Mom, really, don't ever say 'ditched' again." Troy said, joining his mother, Tommy and Megan who was holding two identical toddlers- Trent and Travis (that he had just seen for the very first time about and hour ago) in their little circle. (A/N: Just to refresh your memory: Tommy- Troy's older bro. Megan- Tommy's wife. Twins- their kids.)

"Hey Troy, where ya been hiding?" Tommy asked his younger brother. "I mean you said 'hi' to us once and then practically ran away."

"I've been unpacking."

"Ah. So where's the Misus?" Tommy asked then. Troy almost cringed at the mention of Gabriella being a 'Mrs.'- _his _'Mrs.'

"Well we're not married yet, but she said she'd been down in a little bit. She had to change." Troy said, and it was the truth.

"What's wrong with what she had on?" Lucille cut in with a confused frown.

"She changes her outfit every two to four hours, that's just how she is." he answered with a shrug.

"Sounds like a real diva." Megan commented scornfully, making Troy become somewhat defensive of Gabriella. Even though she could annoy him sometimes, and even if he wasn't completely in love with her like he should have been, he still didn't like it when other people said things about her right to his face. Especially people who he hardly knew!

"Right, so I'm sure _you'd _get along with her just fine." he snapped at his sister-in-law, recalling how bitchy she'd been the first time he'd met her a while ago. He hadn't spoken with her long enough yet to see if she had changed, but somehow he highly doubted if she did.

"What's _that _supposed to mean?" Megan shot at him, now defensive as well as she handed her two year olds to her husband for him to hold.

"Troy..." Lucille said, giving her son a warning glance. Troy just shook his head. "Nothing." he said, ignoring the glare that both Tommy and Megan shot him as he receded from the group. He found himself wandering over to the food area, where Chad was standing scarfing down a plate of watermelon slices.

"Chad, contain yourself man." Troy said, taking the plate away and setting it back on the table.

"Hey, where's Gabriella?" Chad asked him, mid-bite.

"She'll be down in a minute, I guess." he answered, "She's in another pissed off mood."

"Damn, I don't think that woman ever stops PMSing. What is it this time?"

"Hates Sharpay."

"Why?"

"Jealous."

"Why?

"Thinks she wants me."

"Yeah right, like that's possible."

"Thanks a lot." Troy said sarcastically.

"Well, she's with your cousin, isn't she?"

Troy sighed. "Don't remind me."

Chad was about to reply, but stopped when Jack came running up to them. "Hey you two! Troy, where have you been the last two hours?"

Troy sighed. Why did it seem like everyone was asking him that question? "Well dad, I-"

"Nevermind." Jack interrupted him, shaking his head. "Justin and I were talking a few minutes ago and thought it would be fun to play a nice game of ball; like I used to do with you when you were all kids."

"Ball? All? What kind of ball? And who is 'all'?" Troy asked reluctantly. He'd never been very good at sports...the only thing he was remarkably good at when it came to being 'active' was maybe track and field, but he doubted that his dad felt like having a sprinting race right about now.

"Do you realize how Dr. Seuss you just sounded?" Chad laughed. The other two men ignored him.

"Basketball, of course." Jack answered as if instead to say "Basketball, you idiot. What else?!"

Of course. How could Troy forget? For as long as he could remember, his father had always been a b-ball _fanatic_. And even now, at the age of 52, Jack was not about to pass up any opportunity he had to get back in the game again. Troy swore that he would still be wanting to play basketball many years after retirement!

Troy remembered going to Red Hawk games with his dad, and of course _Justin _as a kid. So, he didn't really like to _play _sports- but they had always been fun for him to watch.

_Basketball._

"-and of course by all I meant us guys. You know- me, you, Chad here, Tommy, Justin, and Kaden. We have enough for a three-on-three game, and of course you're uncles don't want to play- and neither does Adam, for some reason." (A/N: Kaden- brother in law. Adam- yet another cousin. x))

"Cool, I'm in." Chad said. Jack grinned and pat him on the back. "Great. What about you, son?"

"Well.....where're we playing at?" Troy asked, even though wherever they'd be playing at should have no affect on his decision of whether to play anyways.

"The park a few blocks away."

"In Apple Crest?" Troy recalled. He remembered that park from a looooong time ago. All the neighborhood kids used to hang out there...of course, he'd sort of been the outcast among them...

"Yeah. So what do you say?"

"I don't know, dad...you know mom. Won't she be upset if the six of us just bail and leave everyone else here?" he asked, using his mother as an excuse.

"Oh no, anyone's free to tag along." Jack assured him.

"We could always use cheerleaders," Chad agreed with a nod and a smile. Troy wanted to punch him. He really had no way out of this, did he?

"Well...okay. Sure." he gave in without much enthusiasm. His dad didn't seem to notice his lack of excitement, because he simply nodded, told him to meet everyone there in five, and stalked off- probably to go inform the others that the 'party' would be moving to the park in Apple Crest very soon.

Troy sighed after him.

Basketball....okay, so it could have been worse, he decided. It wasn't that hard to dribble a ball, make passes, and maybe shoot a basket every now and then....right? At least it wasn't _kickball_.

Plus, him and Chad had played one on one sometimes back in L.A at the gym- only when Chad had to force him too play of course, but still. He had _some _experience with basketball. Very little, but some at least.

"You'd better go get Gabriella." Chad told him. He nodded and walked back towards the house.

* * *

If there was one thing worse then having Justin Bolton on the same team as you, it was _not _having Justin Bolton on the same team as you, because then he would get super competitive against you and would find a new interest in trying to embarass the shit out of you.

That's how it was for Troy.

What bothered him wasn't the fact that at least ten of his family members (a lot had decided not to come along to the park and had stayed back at the house to mingle) were going to see him make a fool out of himself- Sharpay, Gabriella, and Lucille among them. It wasn't when Megan- the potential referee, had named Tommy (of course. Her husband. Playing obvious favorites) and Justin (again, of course, playing favorites) team captains that bothered Troy either.

No, what bothered him was when Justin had spat in his face that there was no way in fuck that any team with him on it was ever going to win shit, and why didn't he just give up now?

_That's _what bothered him.

What had helped his confidence a lot though, oddly enough was when Megan had decided that Tommy's team was the 'skins' side, meaning- no shirts. (Obviously only wanting to use that as an excuse to see Tommy shirtless. But there was nothing wrong with that anyway- they _were _married, after all.)

So why did being shirtless boost his confidence? Well, maybe it was when Gabriella grinned and winked at him when he removed his shirt, or maybe it was when Sharpay also shot a smile in his direction and mouthed the words "good luck" when he did so.

Maybe it was also when Gabriella glared at her for doing that (she was seriously watching the two of them like a hawk this entire time), and maybe, just maybe, it was when Justin rolled his eyes and stomped over to his team angrily for a team huddle.

Justin's team consisted of him, Jack, and Chad, while Tommy's was him, plus Troy, plus Kaden. (Megan had let Justin and Tommy choose a player to be on their team first- Justin had selected Jack and Tommy had selected Kaden. But then Lucille had suggested that the last player- meaning Chad and Troy, should be placed onto either team randomly so neither was picked last. That's when Sharpay had stepped in and sent Troy to Tommy's side and Chad to Justins'- ignoring Tommy's and Kaden's groans and cries of protest, of course. They also thought Troy would make them loose, but they weren't sure about Chad- since they'd only just met him anyways, but they'd figured that anyone had to be better then Troy...who tried to shake away the embarassment.)

So now here they were, the six men seperated into two teams, and Troy on the skin side, with ten or more of his relatives plus Sharpay and Gabriella watching, and several of them assuming his side would loose.

No pressure, right?

"Okay, Kaden- I'm making you, point." Tommy said, "So Troy- just give one of us the ball anytime you might happen to get it, pass to Kaden first if he's open- but if not, then just pass to me. Don't shoot it though, you hear me? _Do not shoot the ball! _Ever. Period. Got that?"

"Fine." Troy rolled his eyes. "But you know Tom, I'm not some six year old elementary schooler in wheel chair that's never even played basketball before, so you can give me a little more credit then that."

"I know that," Tommy said, "you're worse than one."

Before Troy could threaten to physically and literally kick his ass like he was about to, Megan blew the whistle that Jack had given her and told them it was ok to start the game.

The first couple of minutes went okay- Kaden had scored for his team within the first minute, and Troy was actually doing a little better then he thought he was capable of. He didn't attempt to shoot anything like Tommy had instructed, but as far as sprinting down the court and making easy passes- he was doing just fine, actually not emarassing himself this time. He was so into the game at one point that he had actually tuned out the sounds of the cheering people watching and was just completely focused on the game and winning. Maybe he could actually be on a winning side for once; but not just any winning side, a winning side where the losing side had Justin in it.

By the end of the third quarter (Megan was keeping track of the time on Tommy's stopwatch), the score was all tied up at 36 to 36. (Tommy and Kaden had made all the points for the skins side of course.)

"Come on, just let me shoot once. If I miss, it's not a big deal, just get the rebound like you've _been_ doing whenever you guys miss." Troy said during the time out. He didn't totally suck...he could make a shot. Anyone could! It couldn't be as hard as Tommy was trying to make it seem...Troy had made shots in his games with Chad before.

"Hell no Troy, you just stick to playin' good 'D'." Tommy said.

"Yeah," Kaden agreed, "just leave the offense-ing to us."

"Let me shoot, guys! I'm not even that bad!"

"At defense, no. Surprisingly. But come on man...you can't shoot." Kaden said.

"I could if you'd let me instead of making me give up the ball whenever I get it." Troy replied pointedly with annoyance. Why wouldn't they just let him shoot!?

"I beg to differ." Tommy muttered. Not wanting to argue about it any longer, he parted from the group and went over to tell his wife that they were done with their time out. Troy let out a frustrated sigh and turned to look at Gabriella on the sideline, who was listening, actually looking interested, to something Lucille was saying.

His gaze shifted over to Sharpay. He scowled dissapprovingly when he saw that he had caught her mid lip-lock with his sweaty looking cousin. She'd removed the baseball cap she was wearing (Ugh. Probably Justin's), and was clutching it in her right hand. (Once again; _ugh._ Probably so the bill of the cap wouldn't get in the way- so she had better access to _his _mouth.)

Troy was still watching them when they pulled away from each other, and Sharpay must have sensed his eyes on her, because that's when she looked up self consciously and locked eyes with him. They just stared at each other for an unusually long couple of seconds, before she smiled and waved at him.

He didn't react.

Justin turned to see who she was waving at, and his own eyes narrowed in disgust when he saw that it was Troy. He walked back over to his team after that and got ready to play one more quarter.

Troy returned to his own team, suddenly feeling very angry and a stronger desire then ever to win this game.

Megan started the timer on eight minutes. It was the shirts side who were taking out the ball underneath the hoop they were protecting- since the last shot made had just been Kaden at the end of last quarter. Tommy was now yelling at Troy and Kaden to 'press'. Jack tried passing the ball in bounds to Justin, but the pass was intercepted by a still angry Troy who for some reason had just had a serious adrenaline rush. Justin cursed after him as he took off towards the basket.

"Pass! Pass! I'm _open_, you idiot, _pass_!" Tommy screamed at his younger brother. He was right underneath the basket, and could easily put the ball in if Troy were to just pass it to him.

But he didn't listen. He wanted to show Tommy, Kaden, and not to mention_-_ _Justin_, that he could easily make one damned basket if he freaking wanted too.

So, still ignoring his brother's demands to pass him the ball, Troy ran up to the left side of the basket and made an easy left handed lay-up, making the score 38-36, putting his team in the lead.

But the game wasn't over yet, there still had to be at least 7 minutes left.

"Dumbass! Why didn't you pass it?!" Tommy snapped, not seeming to care that Troy scored anyway.

"Well I made it, didn't I?" he snapped back while running back down the cement court. Tommy just shook his head. Troy glanced back over to the sidelines. He saw a few people clapping for him and his team- Gabriella being one of course, but the rest just watching. Sharpay was actually clapping too, and looking straight at him, but Troy noticed that she suddenly looked away from him and her clapping took a halt, and he instantly knew whey-- he looked up and saw Justin glaring at her.

The game went on. Troy didn't get the ball as much as he had been before, and he figured that it was probably because his teammates were worried that he'd try and shoot again- but miss this time.

_Jerks_.

But everytime that he _did _get the ball, if he had an easy shot open, he would take it. He missed a few, but made a couple.

So with one minute left in the game, Troy had made three baskets already. (Kaden made one, and for the other team; Chad and Jack also each made one, and Justin, three- like Troy.)

"The score's 44 to 46. We have one minute to make at least two baskets or a three pointer or we _loose_!" Tommy told Troy and Kaden during a time out.

"Calm down, we can do it." Kaden assured his brother-in-law.

"Only if Troy here quits taking it upon himself to try and make all the shots." Tommy spat, shooting a glare at his brother.

"Hey, I don't suck like we all thought so." Troy argued.

Yes, he said 'we'; he himself thought he'd suck, but he didn't.

"Fine. Shoot it then, but you still gotta pass it _sometime_!"

"I will. _Dang_." Troy didn't know his brother was _this _competitive- then again, he wanted to win more then anything, too. So he couldn't blame him all that much...but he still didn't have to be such an ass about it.

"Good, so, it's their ball. Get back on D, and keep a good eye on Justin- he's the fastest." Tommy instructed.

"We gotta watch that Chad guy, too, he's always open underneath the basket." Kaden added.

"So guard 'im then."

"I _will_."

"What about dad?" Troy asked Tommy.

"I'll take care of him," he replied in a kind of "I got this, he's no big deal" way before walking back over to his wife with a swagger. Troy looked up and saw Gabriella waving him over.

"Hey," he said, walking up to her.

"This is actually pretty interesting to watch," Gabriella told him, "you look hot out there." she winked and smiled.

"Thanks," Troy smiled back, somewhere inside him he hoped Sharpay thought so, too.

"Hey- great job out there, you've gotten better at sports now, haven't you?" a new friendly voice greeted them. Gabriella's face twisted into a scowl- as if the smile there had never existed. Talk about a major mood swing.

"I guess so, but I haven't really practiced all that much." Troy replied. While Gabriella's smile faltered, his grew.

"Really? Well I sure would have guessed otherwise." Sharpay said, eyeing him. Okay so, even though she had a boyfriend...that didn't necessarily mean she wasn't allowed to think other guys were good looking, too. And Troy...he had some nice abs.

"Hey why're you wearing a baseball cap anyway? This is _basket_ball." Troy teased, changing the subject. He'd just been looking her over too, and the question blurted from his mouth.

"Hey, it's not like _I'm_ playing, I can wear whatever I want- and the sun's in my eyes," she answered with a smirk, pulling the cap down low over her forehead.

"Well, what about sunglasses?"

"What_ about_ sunglasses?..."

"You could just wear those if you wanted."

"Yeah, only, I don't feel like it." she told him playfully.

What neither of them noticed was Gabriella staring daggers at both of them in the midst of their playful conversation, (or Justin, for that matter, who was standing several feet away staring disapprovingly at his cousin) since they were mostly just too busy smiling at each other.

"Well I guess in a way that's a good thing," Troy said, "because now everyone can see your eyes."

You're probably thinking, _gosh Troy, idiot, you don't say something like that to another woman right in front of your fiance'_. But the truth was, he'd almost forgot that said fiance' was even _there_.

But at least he said "everyone" instead of just "I", right?...

Sharpay just continued smiling, not quite knowing how she should respond to the almost-compliment, but thinking it was really sweet of him to say. Troy was just full of sweetness and caring- he always had been, and she was glad that was one thing that hadn't changed about him. He'd always been so kind and easy to get along with, and luckily, still was...it was good to see he hadn't let all that Hollywood hooey get to him.

Gabriella cleared her throat loudly. They both snapped out of it and looked at her.

"You'd better return to the game now," Gabriella told Troy, faking sweetness. Hey, she wasn't an actress for nothing. "Good luck, baby." she gave him a quick peck on the lips, mostly for Sharpay's sake, since really Gabriella just wanted to butcher Troy..which she probably would later. But she didn't want Sharpay to know exactly just how pissed she was making her. Sharpay stood there watching awkwardly.

"Love you."

"Right. Thanks...me too, Gabby." Troy muttered, not looking either of them in the eye. He turned quickly and ran back to Tommy and Kaden.

"What the hell was that?" Justin hissed at Sharpay, stomping up to her and Gabriella when Troy was gone. Gabriella giggled rudely in a "ha-ha-on-you-Sharpay" kind of way and walked off.

"Huh?" Sharpay's eyebrows shot up.

"Don't _even_, Sharpay. I saw you _ogling_ him."

"Ogling?" she scoffed, "You've got to be kidding me...don't be so _paranoid_."

"Well excuse me for not liking it when my girlfriend flirts with my bitch-ass cousin right in front of my face," Justin spat.

"_Flirt_?!" Sharpay shook her head in an "I-can't-believe-you'd-even-think-that" manner, "Give me a break, J, you're 28- so quit acting 15," she said sharply as she turned and walked away from him.

Megan blew her whistle. Justin sighed, feeling both mad and stupid as he made his way back over to Chad and Jack, determined to win this.

"You two stay on Tommy and Kaden and leave Troy to me," he quickly hiss-whispered to them. Without waiting for a response, he stormed away, waiting to get the ball thrown into him. Chad and Jack exchanged quick "what-got-into-him?" glances before Jack shrugged and went to go throw the ball in like Justin had told him to earlier.

Justin immediatley charged for the basket the very second the ball was in his possesion, he darted directly past Troy, who cursed lowly under his breath and wasted no time in running after him.

Chad was usually open underneath the basket, but this time he wasn't- he was being blocked good by Tommy, who was a good four inches taller than he, making it nearly impossible for him to get the ball, and there was only forty five seconds left- his team only up by two points.

Meanwhile, Kaden was on Jack, while Troy had managed to squeeze himself in front of Justin, blocking him off from the basket

"Hey man, back the fuck off!" Justin snapped angrily at him, who was really just invading his personal airspace by this point. He couldn't move anymore, since he'd picked the ball up- he could now only pivot and either shoot to score (fat chance that he would), or wait for either Jack or Chad to get open (they were having a hard time getting around Kaden and Tommy).

"Whatcha gonna do, Justin? Gotta get rid of the ball," Troy said with a smirk.

Thirty seconds left.

"I know that, dumbass. Back off."

"Doing that would just give you more room to do something with it," Troy said, meaning "shut the hell up, I'm not gonna."

Justin grunted angrily, and attemped to push his cousin back with one hand to allow himself more room. Troy scowled and pushed him back- with both his hands.

Twenty seconds.

Now, angrier than ever, Justin dropped the ball, suddenly not caring about shooting it since it was obvious his team was going to win anyway (since they were still up by one), and shoved Troy back hard, sending him stumbling backward.

"Dipshit," the younger cousin snorted, shoving him back even harder.

"Asshole," Justin replied after having regained his balance, throwing a punch at Troy's shoulder, shooting a steak of pain up and down his arm. He groaned and clutched his now throbbing shoulder.

The both of them ignored the sound of the whistle being blown then- either to signal the end of the game, or to break them up. Either way they just kept going at it.

"Go to hell!" Troy spat, swinging a punch with his good arm at Justin's face. The 28 year old gasped and stumbled backwards, gingerly touching his bottom lip where Troy's fist had landed, which was now bleeding. This seemed to really set something off inside of him, because that's when he totally lost it.

He threw himself at Troy, knocking both of them to the ground. Troy felt pain all over when his back harshly collided with the concrete.

"Stop it! Break it up!_ Stop_!" Lucille Bolton shreiked upon seeing her son and nephew now throwing all kinds of hard punched at each other.

"You little shit!" Justin spat angrily at Troy, whacking him in the face. Troy roared in aggravation and shot his fist up into his nose. Justin screamed, making a grab at his face, and Troy took this opportunity to escape from underneath him. He stumbled to his feet, clutching his own throbbing face and gasping for breath, thinking that maybe this was the end of it.

Boy was he wrong.

He suddenly felt himself being kicked harder than what he thought to be humanly possible, right in the shin. He made and inhuman noise of pain, but tried ignoring it as he did a karate type move and lifted his good leg to kick Justin in the stomach. He groaned and doubled over in pain as Troy continued to wail on him.

Megan's incessant whistle blowing had not ceased, she was still blowing that thing like crazy- as if that might really get them to quit beating the crap out of each other.

The children in the family watched the scary scene in front of them, shaking with fright at the violent acts of their two uncles. A few were even crying by this point as the constant crude words, punches, kicks, tackles, and slaps continued to fly non-stop at each other between Troy and Justin Bolton.

As for the rest of the family- they were all screaming frantically for them to stop. This included Sharpay, who had tears forming in her eyes, as she was sure that one of them might just end up dead before this fight was over. They were really ripping each other a part, and she felt so helpless- there was nothing she could do about it!

_How can two people, members of the same family- first official cousins, for crying out loud_, she wondered, _hate each other so god damned much_?!

Even Gabriella was yelling for them to knock it off!

"Jack do _something_!!!" Lucille exclaimed, shouting at her husband who immediatley sprang into action. He rushed over to the two insane men and attempted to pry Troy off Justin with the help of Kaden.

Justin stood up, panting, his face bruised and bleeding.

"I'm not finished with you, jerk-off!" he shouted threateningly at Troy, who was violently stuggling in his father and brother-in-law's tight grips on his arms. He thrashed his arms wildly, trying to break free. "Come and get me then, dickwad!" he shouted back. As if in response, his cousin lunged at him, and prepared to break his nose with his hand balled into a fist, when he felt a force yanking his arm away.

"Let the fuck go of me, man! Don't make me beat your ass too!" Justin shouted at Chad. But before he could do anything more, Tommy stepped in quickly and grabbed his other arm. The two of them dragged a struggling Justin away as far as they could while Jack and Kaden did the same with Troy, who had stopped_ his_ struggling and was standing, breathing hard and glaring hatefully at what he considered to be the piece of trash he was sad to call his cousin.

Jack whirled Troy forecully around to face him.

"For Christ's sake, what the hell is your problem?!! I expected a lot more out of you, Troy. When the hell are you going to learn to quit fighting with him and _grow the fuck up_!?" the red faced man demanded. After all these damn years of dealing with his son and nephew treating each other like garbage, even if he hadn't seen either of them in a while, he had finally had enough. Espeically since both of them were in their late twenties and should have grown up by now!

Troy glared back at his father, ignoring the warm liquid he felt running down from his nose to his chin, and all the other excrutiating pain he felt in his body, but didn't reply.

"I'm _-grunt-_ gonna _-grunt-_ kill that _-grunt-_ motherfucker!" Justin, still thrashing in Chad and Tommy's arms exclaimed.

"Stop, man! Stop! Say uncle man, say uncle! It's a draw! It's over!" Tommy exclaimed, finding it hard to keep his hold on his cousin.

"It aint over till I say it's over!" was Justin's snarled reply, but he stopped anyway.

"You idiots can let the hell go of me now!" he snapped at the two men who were still holding onto him after a few seconds of standing still and heavy breathing. They reluctantly and slowly let go, ready to make a quick grab for him again if he tried to run off towards Troy or something.

Luckily he didn't. He stood standing still, of course, that didn't mean he wasn't gonna yell..

"Face it, Troy! You're fucking jealous of me- of everything that I have, and that I beat you at _everything_! I was always more appreciated than you in this family. No one ever fucking liked you as kids. Everyone hates you even now! and you just couldn't and can't fucking take that!!" he shouted accusingly.

Troy, who'd still been facing his dad, whirled back around angrily. He seriously could've gone right up to that son of a bitch and kill the crap out of him if he had any engery left, and every bone and muscle in his body wasn't aching. It was one thing to accuse him of all that in private, but another to throw it all in his face in front of half their family members.

"You know what Justin?!" he yelled back, more pissed off than he ever had been in his entire life. "FUCK YOU! Go to hell!"

Troy had never, ever been more hateful than he was right at that second, but he just couldn't take this shit any longer. He was sick of his cousin always trying to play the victim, and get every fucking thing he wanted.

"I wasn't _jealous_ of you! I was freaking _pissed_ that you stole one of few things I ever_ really, truly_ cared about from me in just the _eighth grade_!!"

The second the words left his mouth, he instantly regretted saying it. Had he just blown his cover? Did everyone know what...or better yet, who he was talking about?

It took Justin several seconds to reply, as if he was taking that time to recover from shock or something.

"Well like you said, it was the freaking eighth grade, so it's time you got the hell over it!" he spat, all signs in his voice pointing to hatred. He turned away from everyone and focused his attention on one person.

Yep.

He damn right knew exactly what Troy was talking about.

"Sharpay, we're leaving," he said, and didn't wait for a reply before turning to exit the park.

Sharpay wasn't sure what he meant by leaving- did he mean the entire family reuinion? Were they going all the way back home? Or did he just mean they were leaving the park and were heading back to Jack and Lucille's house?

She didn't know, but she avoided everyone's eyes burning into her skin as she followed unwillingly after her boyfriend. There was just one person whose eyes for some reason she just couldn't avoid.

With one last glance in Troy's direction, she immediatley saw the shame and hurt in his blue orbs as he stared directly at her. She couldn't look at him for long though, because she felt a funny pain in the pit of her stomach at all the horrible cuts and bruises all over his face...and that intense look in his eyes.

She wondered if this would be the last time she saw him for a while- it all depended on what Justin meant by "we're leaving".

So she broke the gaze they held, and let her eyes wander back to the ground and prepared to continue her way on out of the park. But before she left, she quickly decided on something. She found his eyes again, and mouthed the words "I'm sorry."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry if it sucked. I didn't have much time to proofread it 'cos American Idol started ten minutes ago and I've already missed the beginning. :o_

_also...sorry for all the cursing, especially the "F" word which seemed to come up several times here. _

_Once again so so very sorry for the long wait but I hope the length of this chapter kindasorta made up for it?_

_ohgosh, did I just apologize for three things? :P_

_Please review and let me know if I have any readers left?_

_Luv yous!_

_-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx_


	6. 4: Just Acting on Impulse?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own High School Musical.

* * *

**All In The Family**

**_Chapter Four - Just Acting on Impulse?_**

**T**he car tires screeched noisily as Justin slammed his door shut, revved up the engine, and tore quickly away from the curb.

"Wow could you take it easy!? I'm barely even in the car yet and you just drive away like it's no problem!" Sharpay exclaimed, jamming her seatbelt into the buckle angrily. _If it doesn't fit, cram it_.

"Well maybe you should walk a little faster to the car next time then," her boyfriend snapped at her, driving- or more like zipping down the street.

"No, maybe you shouldn't act like a child and start fighting with your cousin like a wild animal next time!" Sharpay threw back at him, seething in her seat. "Jesus Christ! Could you drive any faster?!" she practically shreiked sarcastically, staring alarmed at the blurs of speeding color out the window she saw as they zoomed down the road at several miles an hour. The speed Justin was going _had_ to be well over the city limit.

"Sure, you want me to!?" he yelled, practically flooring the gas pedal.

"Justin!" Sharpay squealed, "_Stop it_- you're going to make us crash!"

By now, she was used to his temper issues, but this was just too much. She was the passenger of a car that had the driver breaking the law by several miles per hour, not to mention the fact that he was obviously way passed extremely pissed off and had bruises and cuts all over his face. This was _so_ dangerous!

Justin took a deep breath and slowed down- not that much, and certainly not enough to make Sharpay quit holding her breath and stop clinging back against the seat, but at least he did a little bit anyway.

"What's your problem?! I've never been able to understand why you and-"

"Troy fucking Bolton is my fucking problem, Sharpay!" Justin interrupted her midsentence, slamming a fist against the steering wheel.

"Why?! God damnit, this was supposed to be a nice reunion, but instead you just have to go and start a horrible fight with him! In front of everybody- including your own neices and nephews, Justin!"

"You and your _nice _shit," Justin snarled. "Wait- you're really blaming _me_ for starting that fight?!"

"Well, you pushed him first didn't you?" Sharpay said, for some reason not very frightened of Justin himself- more so just the speed they were going. He was a lot bigger than she, and god knows what he was capable of in the state he was in- but that's the thing, he'd never hit her before and probably wouldn't start now, no matter how angry he got..right?

"You've got to be _fucking_ kidding me. You're really defending _that _son of a bitch?!"

"I am _not_ defending him!" Sharpay argued, "Both of you we're in the wrong- fightling like cats and freakin' dogs for no reason, and don't you _dare_ make me take sides!"

"You _should_ be taking_ mine_, considering you haven't even seen him in _how_ many years?!" the outraged man emphasized pointedly. "I'm your fucking boyfriend, Sharpay! Troy Bolton might as well be a fucking stranger to you by now!"

Sharpay didn't reply. What could she say to that? In a way, he did have a point, but still- in her childhood and teen years, she'd never mistreated Troy or even yelled at him or _anything_, and whenever he and Justin had arguments or something back then, she never used to get involved...............because she cared about them both. Just how _much_ did she care about each of them was the question- way back then she'd asked herself that question a million times, and _still_ couldn't think of an answer.

It didn't matter to her if it'd been a while since she'd last spoken to Troy before the reunion; it wass till as if he'd been there all along.

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

"Wher're you going?" Sharpay asked Justin as he parked the car outside of Jack and Lucille's house, and climbed out.

"I just need some time alone!" He snapped at her as if she'd asked some major, complicated question. He slammed the door shut before she could reply. Sharpay scowled and got out of the car as well, closing the passenger side door lighter than he had.

"What about your face?" She called after him as he stormed up to the house. They were the first one's back from the park, it seemed like.

"I'll clean it up myself!" he shouted back at her without turning around. Sharpay sighed, leaning back against the car. She closed her eyes as the warm, comforting sun hit her in the face. She wondered if and when Justin calmed down a bit, they were leaving or staying. They'd been here less than twelve hours and already things were not off to a very good start.

She stayed there like that, just leaning back against Justin's car, lost in her thoughts for what seemed like hours but was probably only minutes. She heard the sound of a car motor coming, and her eyes came open. She saw a white truck pull into the driveway- Jacks car.

"Hi," she called out to Lucille as she stepped out of the passengers side of the vehicle. The older woman offered a quick half smile despite the mood she was in and came toward her.

"Hi honey. Where's that tough nephew of mine?" She asked.

"He stormed off into the house. He's really mad..." Sharpay answered with a sigh. "We just got back a few minutes ago, though. I really hope he calms down soon. He said he just needed some time alone...so...I've just been out here," she shrugged.

"Oh," Lucille nodded as Jack came out of the car also and joined them.

"Where's Justin?" he wondered the same thing his wife did.

"Inside, we just got back a few minutes ago." Sharpay repeated.

"Oh...so...how is he?" he asked hesitantly.

"Pretty angry...and his face isn't looking so good. But he said he'll clean it up himself?" She explained, taking her ponytail out and shaking her hair- letting it fall in loose blonde waves around her shoulders. "What about Troy? How's he doing? Where's everyone else?" It was her turn to ask questions.

"Um...I think mostly everyone should be heading back now," Lucille answered. Everyone who'd gone to the park went in the cars they'd came to the house in.

"Mostly everyone?" Sharpay asked, and Lucille nodded but didn't say anything. Jack took that as his cue.

"Well...after you left, Troy just sort of turned and walked away in the other direction, muttering that he'd be back here later."

"Oh...but what about Gabriella? And Chad?" Sharpay wondered.

"Tommy said he'd give them a ride back," Jack said. "That Gabriella...I don't know about her," he tsked. "She started whining basically and running after Troy, even though he basically told her to step off and leave him alone for a while. She also seems kind of....I don't know..."

"Bitchy." Lucille finished, not beating around the bush. It was the truth, after all.

"Yep, basically." Jack scoffed. "But I guess Troy loves her, so we should too."

"Besides," Lucille said, smiling meekly at Sharpay. "Not everyone can be like Sharpay here."

Sharpay half-smiled. "Thanks," she said, not really knowing what else she should say. There was a breif moment of silence between the three of them.

"...What do you think Troy meant when he said that Justin...stole 'one of few things he really cared about' a long time ago?" The blonde asked suddenly, recalling what Troy had blurted out at Justin back at the park.

"No clue." Jack responded after a few moments of thinking. "He said eighth grade, didn't he?" he shrugged. "I couldn't figure it out either."

"Justin seemed to know what he was talking about...but I don't think anyone else did." Lucille added. "You could ask him?"

Sharpay shrugged casually. "Maybe I will later. I don't know. But it must've been bad....Guess I'm not really in the mood to face him right now though, not when he's all pissed off like that," she said and shook her head. "I just can't believe they would physically hurt each other so bad like that," she shuddered at the memory of Troy and Justin socking each other in the face. "It's just awful."

"I know...and we had to deal with it all the time when they were younger." Jack said.

"We just assumed they'd be over what ever it was they had with each other by now," Lucille added. "It's like they have some secret competition or rivalry with each other over something that no one else knows about, and will never go away," she sighed.

"Yeah...." Sharpay agreed.

But she had no clue at all that Justin and Troy seeming to hate each other had a lot to do with _her,_ and what or who _she herself_ found impressive.

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

Troy flinched as he lightly poked at a large forming bruise on his shin. His body still ached like hell and he was really hungry. He hadn't eaten anything in at least six hours or so.

"Fuck family," he muttered, leaning back against the tree he'd been sitting in front of for at least twenty minutes. He'd been walking around the park for a long while- so long that he'd lost track of time, before coming to this tree. He had a history with this very tree, it was special to him, even if it was _just a tree_.

He knew it was _his_ special tree by the way "T R O Y" was carved a few feet up the trunk into the bark. He'd carved that in there himself when he was probably around nine or ten years old, and it was still there to this very day. He'd found it the minute he'd wandered on over to the tree, and was now just leaning back, relaxing against it and watching the sunset by himself- the way he used to do when he was younger.

Yes, you heard correct...sunset. The sun was setting, which meant that it had to be at least around seven PM. He'd been wandering the park for that long, and disregarding his growling stomach, intended to stay for much longer. There was no way in hell he was anywhere near ready to go back to his old home and face all his family members and his whiny, annoying fiance'.

No, he'd much rather stay here.

"Hey."

A voice snapped him out of his thoughts. He glanced upwards, and he felt his eyes grow wide.

There, standing before him in all her glory, arms crossed tightly over her chest, a sad smile across her beautiful face- her hair, billowing in the gentle slight warm breeze, was Sharpay Evans, looking down at him; her brown eyes twinkling with...relief?

"Whatareyoudoinghere?" his words came out in a shocked jumble.

"Well um...you were gone for a while. I...well, I guess I was just...worried." she answered uncertainly. He could tell this was difficult for her.

"Care if I join you? Or do you want me to leave? I understand if you do, and it's perfectly fine...just as long as you're OK."

"No, it's fine." Troy told her. _Great, actually_. He thought. Could he finally be alone with her? Had she even come alone?

"You can sit down," he said.

"Okay," she smiled and sat down next to him, scooting up back against the wooden tree trunk.

"Is this where you've been the last three hours?" She asked him after a few moments of silence.

_Wow. Three whole hours, huh? _He'd _completely_ lost track of time.

"Yes and no," he shrugged. "I've been around the whole park I guess."

"Oh," she nodded in understanding. It was silent again as they stared at the sunset on the horizon.

"How did you find me?" Troy finally asked. "I-I mean...how'd you...know I was here?"

"I didn't," Sharpay said. "I've...just been walking around too. It took me like a half hour to find you here," she admitted. After she'd finally gone inside the house around five minutes after her conversation with Jack and Lucille had ended earlier, Justin had been locked up in the room they were sharing for the time they were here. She hadn't even seen Gabriella since way earlier at the basketball game; but she assumed that she was locked up with nothing to do in her and Troy's room as well.

Sharpay had ended up just kind of wandering the house and chit chatting a little bit with members of the Bolton family. She'd found herself glancing at the time every so often, and it was like the minutes were either dragging or flying by- just jumping all over the place. She kept on wondering if Troy was OK, and when would he be back. So when the sky started darkening, she found she couldn't stand just waiting around the house any longer, and had to get out. So she took Justin's car keys (that he'd left in the ignition earlier) and drove off.

She didn't know at first where to go look for Troy, but decided that to start back at the park would probably be the best thing, and thankfully he'd turned out to still be here; at the park.

"Oh." Troy said, and then wondered "....why?"

Sharpay gave him a questioning glance.

"I-I mean...why...were you looking for me?" he re-worded his question.

"Well," she sighed, "Justin refuses to talk to anyone- locked up in the room like a stubborn teenage _girl..._not that i really want to talk to him right now anyway," she laughed bitterly. Troy smiled to himself...secretly pleased that she was not on best terms with his jerk off cousin at the moment.

"I felt like get out of the house- because there was a lot of tension left because of...you know...what happened earlier," Sharpay continued her reasons on why she came looking for Troy. "and I believe we promised we'd catch up later," she turned her head and smiled at him.

"Hey, your face looks kinda-sorta better," she told him.

"Really? Well that's good..." he said, "I splashed some water on it from one of the park bathrooms earlier."

"Hm," Sharpay said, shifting her eyes once more back to the sunset.

"It's so pretty and calm out here," she said. "I can see why you haven't gone back to the house yet."

"Yeah," Troy nodded. "I used to come down here all the time when I was a kid, just to think and watch the sunset, y'know? It was the perfect childhood escape/getaway," he told her. That's why this tree was special to him. It was his secret place- where no one could get him, and the view was spectacular. He used to climb the tree and sit in the high above branches, watching the world before him.

"Why did you want to get away?" she asked him, bringing her knees up to her chest.

"Oh...well...you know how everyone has their ups and downs and life." Troy shrugged. "Sometimes things just got a bit complicated."

"People seemed to pick on you a lot," Sharpay said. She didn't mean to, it just came out. "Wait. I mean...that sounded bad. I-"

"No, it's ok." Troy said with another shrug. "You're right, Sharpay. But you never did. How come?"

"You were like.. my best friend" she answered. "I wasn't going to stoop to everyone else's level. You never did anything to me- you didn't and still don't deserve to be treated badly."

Troy was silent for a moment. He never knew that she'd ever considered him to be her best friend...ever. But he was glad that she did- even if that was all; even if he'd been secretly in love with her for all those years. But if apparently they'd been 'like best friends', why did they completely loose contact?

"I feel like walking now. You wanna walk?" He asked her, changing the subject. He stood up and reached an arm out to her, to help her up. She nodded, placed her hand in his, and stood. They walked silently, side by side for several seconds, each completely aware that their hands and fingers were still interwined with each other, but not doing anything to break the contact.

"So, can I ask you something?" Sharpay asked him after a quiet while.

"You just did," Troy grinned.

"Well, yeah. But can I ask you something else?"

"You just did...again," he answered with a small chuckle, swinging their arms back and forth together.

"Troy." Sharpay said in a warning, but playful tone.

"Alright, alright. Sure. What is it?" Troy asked.

"I was just wondering...and I feel bad for sorta bringing that um....fight back up again, but..." She trailed off, glancing down at their laced fingers. For some reason, she just really didn't want to pull her hand away. "What was that you were saying that Justin...stole from you in eighth grade?" she asked carefully.

I seemed to take him by surprise, because his walking came to an abrubt halt. She had still been walking, but was pulled back by him when he stopped, since they were holding hands.

He stared at her for a moment, drinking in her beautiful features and trying to decide on what he should tell her. There was no way he was going to say "You. He stole _you_ from me," even if that was the truth, but he didn't want to lie to her either. Damnit. Why did she have to put him in this situation?

He sighed. "A wonderful opportunity," he finally told her and continued walking, once again pulling her along with him.

"What?" she asked, looking up at him.

"It's sort of complicated." Troy said, avoiding her eyes. Even though it was extremely simple- Justin took what he now could never have. If he stared into her eyes long enough, he knew he'd probably end up admitting to her the completely truth, hence why he looked away.

"But-"

"It doesn't matter anymore anyway." He said. But it did. It mattered _a lot_. It would _always_ matter, no matter what. It would matter for as long as Sharpay and Justin were together.

"Yes it does." She answered quietly, quickly stepping in front of him which forced him to stop walking. "You can tell me, you know."

"I said it doesn't matter anymore, Sharpay." Troy said, trying to step around her, but she refused to let him go.

"You wouldn't have said it if it didn't matter," she pointed out. "So you can stop saying that." She gave his hand a light, reassuring squeeze. He didn't say anything.

"Look, I know it's...been a while. But I just want you to know that how long it's been doesn't matter to me. Honestly, I..I would've been...really disappointed if you didn't come to this reunion, even if you did get battered up by my dumb boyfriend pretty badly, it's been really good seeing you again, Troy." Sharpay admitted. "My point is, no matter how long it's been, just know that you can still trust me. Fifty years from now? Same thing," she smiled. "I'm just glad you're here...and still _alive_."

Troy smiled back. He could just kiss her right then and there for saying all of that, but of course he didn't. Somehow he managed to hold himself back from doing so. But really, how much sweeter could she be? How could a person this nice...be dating Justin? It was like a demon and angel match.

_Damn, opposite attraction, much?_

"I know...and I appreciate that you care. But really, it's nothing."

"You just don't wanna tell me for some reason." Sharpay huffed, giving up. She let go of his hand, turned, and continued walking. The smile dropped from Troy's face.

"Hey where are you going?" He called after her.

"I'm just hoping you'll catch up, slowpoke!" She turned back around and grinned at him, seeming to already have gotten over what he wouldn'te tell her. His smile reappeared and he jogged back up to her.

"Hey- bet I can climb that tree higher than you can," he challenged, glancing up at another tall tree above them. There was a lot of branches on it- great for climbing, and he hadn't climbed a tree in forever; but he suddenly had an urge to.

"No arguments here, 'cause there is no way I'm even going to attempt that." Sharpay said, quickly shaking her head. No way. No how. Not now. Not _ever_ would she do that.

"Aw come on, don't be _afraid_." Troy teased. "Look, it's easy- see?" he said. He raised his arms up to a branch and wedged his foot into a small hole in the trunk of the tree. With a light push and a lot of arm work, he was able to hoist himself up and onto the branch. Sharpay watched in amazement and surprise as he easily lifted himself up from branch to branch, until he was a goof ten or eleven feet high up in the tree.

"Holy crap. Since when were you a tree climber?!" She yelled up to him. He laughed.

"Since I was a kid. You didn't seriously think I'd just _sit_ under the trees whenever I came here, did you?"

"Well..._yeah_. It's not exactly a _weird_ thing to do." She responded, crossing her arms.

"Come on Sharpay, I'm not _that _boring."

"Are you implying that I am?"

"Care to proove me wrong?"

"Nope. Go ahead and think whatever you want, because I'm not about to risk my life just to show you that I'm not a boring person."

"Chicken." Troy grinned. Sharpay rolled her eyes.

"What are we? Nine again?"

"No, but who ever deemed it illegal for people in their twenties to climb up a tree every now and then?"

"Rhetorical question, Bolton." Sharpay answered.

"Oh, so we're on a last name basis now?"

"Can we just go now? Please?" She asked, deciding it was time for a subject change.

"Come on- you've got to climb up _at least_ three branches first." Troy urged her on.

"Something tells me that even though you _say_ three now, you'll expect me to go up even higher when and if I even manage to reach that much without falling back and cracking my head open first."

"Ah Sharpay, so dramatic." Troy tsked. "Don't be, I'll help you if you want, it'll be fine." He promised, finding his way back down the trunk. He stopped at the second branch up and with a little leap, landing with both his feet planted on the ground. Sharpay gasped.

"Don't do that! If you sprain an ankle, I'll be forced to lug you halfway across the park to your car- and you're already beat up as it is." She said, sounding half concerned and half annoyed...if that was even possible.

"I'm feeling better." Troy insisted. Well...it was half true, at least. He was still kind of sore, but apparently, not sore enough to stop him from tree climbing. He held a hand out to her.

"Now come on, quit stalling and up you go."

"I'm not Curious George or whatever, Troy. I can't do this." Sharpay said, but took his welcoming hand anyway. Oddly enough, the newly found contact relaxed her somewhat.

"Anyone can do it if they try. Look, just stick your right foot into that hole...there you go...now grab a hold of that branch there...just like that." Troy said as she shakily followed his instructions. Every step she took, he was right behind her, which made her feel a lot more safe and secure. He kept a protective, but loose hold on her waist with one of his hands while using his other to hoist himself up the tree again.

"How high do we have to go?" She asked him after seven or eight climbs- her voice quavering as she dare not look down, for if she did, she was sure she would choke and fall; even with Troy there. She wasn't a very big fan of heights- just in case that hadn't already been made obvious.

"Just a few more, and you'll be able to see practically the whole park. Even with the sun down already, the view from up there is great. Trust me, it'll be worth it."

"Fine, but if I fall and die, it should be on your conscience." Sharpay replied as she continued the long (for her) climb.

"Sharpay, I wouldn't be able to live with myself if I ever let anything bad happen to you." Troy told her with sincere honesty. "Just trust me, okay? You're gonna be fine."

"Okay, okay." She said, and before she knew it, they were nearly at the top of the tree.

"What are the chances that I'll fall off this very branch and tumble to the ground if I look down?" She asked him after hoisting herself up on the high, sturdy branch and was now clinging frightfully to the tree trunk, refusing to look at the ground several feet below them.

"Zero, as long as I'm here." Troy responded. She glanced quickly at him for a moment before sticking her hand out to him. Confused, he let her slide her hand into his and felt her pull on his arm- signalling for him to scoot closer to her; probably so she'd feel more enclosed and be less likely to falling. He was not about to object.

"I've had my share of falls in the past," he told her, "and except for a broken arm one time, nothing drastic ever happened."

"Well thanks, that makes me feel a_ lot_ better." Sharpay said, and Troy wasn't sure if she was being sarcastic or not, so he decided not to comment on that.

"Would you loosen up a little?" He chuckled nervously. She was scared frozen. Maybe bringing her up here wasn't such a good idea...?

"Nope."

"Well, I'll admit. You _do _look kind of cute when you're scared." He told her with a smirk, which she couldn't see since her eyes were closed, but they sprang open at his comment.

_What the hell? Did I just say that?!_

Where this sudden courage came from, he had no idea. He'd always been too shy as a kid to even really compliment her all that much, and here he was, pretty much randomly telling her she was _cute; _even though in his eyes, she was _more _than just that- she was completely drop dead gorgeous.

It took her a moment to respond.

"Then I must be adorable, 'cause I'm completely frightened out of my wits." She said unsurely, trying to play it casual when really for some weird reason, the casual, not even that great of a compliment coming from Troy flattered her more than it probably should. **(Key words here people!: From. Troy. xD)**

"You shouldn't be. If you look down for a minute, you'll see that it's not that bad, and you'll feel OK." He said, stroking the back of her hand lightly with his thumb, sending shivers up her spine...in a... good way?

"Are you cold?" He asked her in disbelief, noticing her shivers. It was such a warm night though...how could she be cold?

"N-no. I'm..."she swallowed, a new, sudden feeling of nerves rushing over her body. She could feel something funny moving around lightly in her stomach.

_Why am I getting butterflies?_

"I'm fine." She managed, swallowing hard. She didn't know if it was being way high up in a tree getting to her, or the way Troy continued to stroke her hand so...warm, and comfortingly, that was making her suddenly dizzy. But whatever the reason, she just felt very _odd_ all of a sudden.

"Are you sure?" Troy asked, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yes, I'm fine, Troy." Sharpay insisted, avoiding his eyes and staring down at their laced together fingers instead. Holding his hand actually felt completely natural, no matter how different she felt at the moment.

"Well....alright." He said, unconvinced. She offered him half a smile, thankful that he was letting it go.

"So..." he began uncertainly, suddenly having no clue what to talk about, which was weird considering how long it'd been for them- so you'd think there'd be a _lot_ left to talk about. "How's life... been treating you?" he finished lamely.

"Life's been...good I guess." Sharpay said.

"You guess?"

"Well...not really like peppy-happy-la-la-land type of good, you know?" She said and sighed, "I mean, I just..." she stopped and sighed again.

"What?"

"It's complicated...well, not really, but...yeah."

"You can tell me."

"I know..." she paused for a moment, contemplating whether she should tell him. "It's...Justin."

Troy held back a scoff.

_Figures._

"What happened?"

"Nothing, really." Sharpay frowned. "Yeah, _nothing_. That's the problem. _Nothing _happened. Nothing's _happening_. Life? It's practically been the same as always."

"But what's the matter?" Troy asked, confused.

"It's just...it doesn't seem like our relationship is really_ going_ anywhere, and it's been so long."

"It doesn't _seem_ like it is? Or it just flat out_ isn't_?" Troy questioned.

"I'm wondering that exact thing, Troy." She paused. "...But honestly, I...don't think it is?"

"So what are you saying? You want to break up?" He asked, wondering if he sounded too hopeful, and hoping he didn't.

"No! I mean...not exactly. I just...I do want to get married someday, you know?" Sharpay said, feeling pretty bored with her life. It was just odd that she'd been in this relationship for years with no progression. Wasn't it about time _something_ happened?

Troy swallowed, and reluctantly asked "To Justin?" not sure if he really wanted to know the answer or not.

But it didn't matter, because she didn't answer his question anyway. Instead, she was silent for a long while, before giving his hand a tight squeeze. "You and Gabriella...." she started, "you two are so lucky. To have each other..to be in love and be...getting married. Gosh, it must feel great."

She didn't know how badly Troy wanted to scream out the words "_FUCK NO!_" right then and there, but he didn't. He held back, and casually mumbled a "Yeah."

Both of them were quiet after that, just sitting there in the tree drinking in their surroundings, each unsure of what to say.

"Sharpay," Troy finally spoke after a while. "If sometime soon, he does you know....propose to you..." _yech,_ he thought. "What would you say?"

It took her a moment to reply. She sighed- she seemed to be doing a lot of that lately. "You know...if you'd asked me that question last week, I would have said 'yes'. But now..." she shook her head, "I...I really don't know what I'd say."

"No clue?" He asked.

"No clue." She shrugged slowly. "None, at all. But I don't think it matters. It's been fourteen years and nothing, somehow I don't think that's going to change anytime soon."

"Why?" Troy asked, "I mean, what's different now...as opposed to last week? Why don't you know anymore?"

Sharpay slowly raised her eyes to meet his, but didn't reply. His perfect blue eyes were filled with wonder and confusion as they bore into her brown ones hidden beneath long lashes.

The two of them just sat there like that for a long while, staring at each other- Troy's question, though left hanging in air, completely forgotten. Troy didn't even know they'd been leaning in until he realized that if he sneezed, they would bang noses.

"Troy," Sharpay said.

"Hm?" He asked, feeling her warm breath on his lips. She didn't finish her sentence, she just liked saying his name. They were so close now, that she could make out her reflection perfectly with no problem in his eyes. He clasped both of her hamds securely in his own, and held them tightly together in his lap. She shivered again just like earlier when his thumbs started softly stroking her again.

Caught up in the moment, Sharpay let her eyelids fall closed over eyeballs, and she leaned in, ready to close the tiny gap that just barely seperated their mouths, when...

_RING! RING!_

The sudden ring that pierced annoyingly through the still, silent night air brought the bitch of reality out, and caused the both of them to jump. If she wasn't so angry from the disruption of their moment, Sharpay might have just been scared enough to fall out of the tree at that point.

"You should get that." Troy mumbled, pulling away from her and letting her hands go. She nodded and, refusing to look at him, yanked her phone from her pocket.

_Why?! _

_Why_

_why _

_why_

_why _

_why_

_why_

_why_

_why_

_WHY FUCKING WHY?!!! _Was all that was streaming through Troy's thoughts as he watched her take her cell out.

_Why did that damn thing have to ring NOW? _His mind screamed. He sighed and made a mental note to make sure to throw his own phone against the brick wall in the living room when they returned to his parent's house. He hated all cell phones now, not to mention the idiot who was calling her, no matter who it was.

_Fuck whoever invented cell phones. I almost kissed Sharpay!_

"Hello?" Sharpay answered without bothering to check the caller ID.

"_Sharpay? Where the hell are you!?_" The sadly recognizable voice demanded.

"It's great to hear from you too, Justin." She said sarcastically. "And oh, so you're actually talking to me now? 'Cause I was doing just_ fine_."

"_Where are you_?" Her boyfriend repeated. _"Everyone's bitching about wondering where you and that dipshit are. You wouldn't happen to know that too, would you?" _From the way he said it, it was obvious that he was hoping more than ever that Sharpay had no clue where Troy was.

"His _name_ is_ Troy_, and were at the park."

"_What in God's name are you still doing there_?!"

"Avoiding _you_." Sharpay responded, hanging up. Ouch. Maybe she shouldn't have said that?...

After a while of awkward, heavy silence, she finally turned to Troy. You can never really get a moment back after it's ruined, can you?

_Curse reality._

"I should...go."

"Me too, I guess." He mumbled, avoiding eye contact with her. She didn't mind though, since she didn't exactly want to look him in the eye at the moment either.

"So...um, how do I get down from here?"

"The same way you came up. Don't worry, it's easy."

"Well, you got me up here just fine so okay, I trust you." She said with a nervous smile which he didn't see since he wasn't really looking at her...or trying not too.

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

"So...I'll...see you back at the house?" Sharpay said hesitantly when they reached the ground (which she was now staring at) at the bottom of the tree.

"Yeah, sure. See you," he said, awkwardly running a shaky hand through his hair, but not making a move to turn around and leave. Their cars were parked seperatley and they had to part ways now, but both of them new they'd have to talk about that almost-kiss at one time or another. Just not now. Later sounded a lot better at the moment.

_I really fucking hate Justin_, Troy thought. _And cell phones! _he added.

"Well....later." Sharpay said and after a few more moments of silence, slowly turned to leave. Troy watched her retreating form and sighed.

_Did I mention how much I hate Justin?_

* * *

_A/N: Yeah, I didn't really like the ending either. Oh, and if you hated Justin, I guess it doesn't make it too hard to hate him even more now... ;P_

_Also, I tried looking up info about sunsets in Albuquerque? Like, what time they occur? It said around 7:12 PM in the summertime. So I hope what I read was accurate._

_Well, I gotta run...my ex just texted me...and we haven't talked in weeks? Weeeeeiiirrrrrddddd...._

_Hit the button down thurrr in the middle of the screen! :D_

_-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx_


	7. 5:Consequence Free,Who Would You Choose?

**Disclaimer: **I don't own High School Musical.

* * *

**All In The Family**

**_Chapter Five - Consequence Free, Who Would You Choose?_**

**S**harpay swallowed nervously as she pulled into the driveway of Jack and Lucille Bolton's home. With a shaky hand, she slowly turned the key to shut her boyfriend's car off, and pulled it out of the slot with a deep sigh. At the moment, really, she'd rather be anywhere but here right now. How she was going to face the outraged mess (which was obvious from their short phone conversation) that was Justin, she really didn't know. All she could really do was hope for the best...which probably wouldn't come anyway, since she'd ended the call on a not-so-happy to hear from him, less than pleasant note.

As various thoughts jumping all over the place in her mind ranging from Justin, to Troy, to Gabriella even, to Jack, Lucy, and back to Troy and Justin, swarmed her thoughts, she still remained seated in the car, not willing to move...even though she knew she would have too soon, since a certain brunette _I-seriously-almost-shared-a-kiss-with _man would probably be back any minute, and it would be just too awkward to face him again right now.

That's when suddenly, as if on cue, there was a knock on her window, vanishing her thoughts and causing her to jump startled. She quickly turned to see who it was, and her heart rate sped up from already fast with anticipation and nerves to _unusually_ fast and rapid as she tried to decide whether or not to roll down the window when she realized who it was. (Not that it was a big totally unexpected surprise or anything.)

"I...didn't mean to scare you, sorry." Troy apologized quickly when she finally decided _Oh, to hell with it _and rolled it down.

"You're fine. You just kind of startled me." Sharpay mumbled, as if she hadn't just seen him less than 20 minutes ago.

"Sorry," he said again and paused before adding "...so why are you just sitting here?"

"..Well, you know how on the phone I told Justin that I was avoiding him?"

"..Sure." Troy said, although he didn't recall, since back at the park he'd been too busy cursing the inventor of cell phones at the time she'd been chatting to pay that much attention to every word really.

"Well I wasn't exactly done yet. But I guess I should head inside now..." she said reluctantly, glancing up at the lit house and not bothering to move, even though she kind of wanted to get away from him right now, but seemed frozen in place. That's when a heavy silence fell over them.

"Listen, Sharpay/Troy," they both simultaneously said suddenly after several long, awkward moments. They looked at each other and each couldn't help but chuckle at the unisonous speaking from them.

"Um...you go first." said Sharpay.

"Well, I just wanted...to say... that I-"

"Ah, look who decided to limp on back to where he came from!" A new voice suddenly greeted them. Sharpay froze, and she felt the chills crawl up her spine, but she was relaxed and relieved when she forced herself to look out the windsheild and saw who it was, and that it was _not_ Justin.

"Chad," Troy sighed, sounding both frustrated and relieved at once.

"Where've you been, man? I've been trying to ring ya for the last couple of hours, and nothing," the afro-headed man said, approaching them at the car.

"I didn't take it with me to the park, but can we talk about this later?"

"Why? What's the- oh, hello, Sharpay." Chad smiled kindly, finally seeing that she was in the car. "Everyone's wondering where you've been too."

"So I've heard."

"I must say, Troy, you're family's quite alright but it's been sort of weird hanging around them we're you're not here." Chad said, turning back to Troy.

"I didn't think anyone would notice."

"You're kidding, right? After that little showdown earlier, you and your cousin are all anyone's been talking about. It's like being right back in Hollywood again."

"Speaking of Hollywood, where's the big bad Hollywood bi-" Troy said, and then, remembering that Sharpay was there, quickly changed it to "-I mean, Gabriella?" Not like he wanted her to be his top thought right now or priority anyway- not that she really was, he was just curious.

"Don't know. I honestly almost forgot she was even here." Chad shrugged. "Twenty bucks says she's pacing angrily around your guy's room, impatiently awaiting your return."

"If she's so anti social, why is she here?" Sharpay suddenly asked. "Better yet, why is she _famous_? It must be hard for anyone to get an interview with her."

"Interviews- yes. Paparazzi- no." Troy told her. "She loves having her picture taken, so unless you come to her with a camera, she'll hardly acknowledge you...or she'll...dislike you. And by you, I mean anyone."

"That explains so much." Sharpay said. It was obvious to her that Gabriella, for some reason, was already less than fond of her.

"But wasn't she the one who was all enthusiastic about coming to meet your family?!" Chad recalled, scrunching up his nose in confusion.

"Yes!" Troy scoffed, remembering Gabriella's exact words to his parents on the phone;

"_**I don't know what silly excuse Troy has come up with far, but I can assure you we'll be there. Looking forward to next Saturday! :)**_"

**_-insert overly cheerful annoying makes-us-all-want-to-bash-our-heads-in-with-something-hard-like-a-large-iron-or-cinder-block giggle here-_**

"She's freaking bi-polar, I tell you!" He exclaimed, and Sharpay remained silent, confused as to why Troy would talk about the woman he was (supposedly) in love with and getting married to like that.

"Well, either she was just faking it on the phone for some reason, or maybe she really _was _looking forward to this weird reunion but all that changed and she became all 'screw the world' when she discovered that Sharpay, the woman you used to have the _serious_ hots for was-"

"**_DUDE_**!" Troy exclaimed horrifically, cutting him off even though it was too late. Sharpay's eyebrows shot up, and her eyeballs widened to the size of flying saucers as the only three words that could ever really be thought of in a time like this shot through her brain:

_What. The. Hell?!_

"What?" Chad asked obliviously with a large brown eyed blink, and Troy shot him the old evil-eyed _I hate you, _and, _have you completey forgotten that there's a third party member within hearing range, who just so happens to fucking BE "Sharpay, the woman I used to have the serious hots for", you freaking retarded douchebag!? _look.

"Oh!" Chad said, finally seeming to _get it _and actually remember that she was there! He glanced quickly at a dumbfounded Sharpay, and spoke again, though his short sentence was sputtered.

"I-I did say _used_ to?"

"Motherf-_ gaah_!" Troy said , throwing his arms in the air. How the fuck could Chad just _blow_ his lifelong freakin' secret like that?!!!! He didn't think he could be that much of a total idiot!

Refusing to even shoot one last glance at Sharpay, not even to see her reaction, he quickly squeeked an embarassed "Later," at her and shuffled away from there faster than a wild tiger chasing after it's prey.

"Yeah...I uh...better go...I hafta um...go and...cook the...sheep...antler." Chad said to Sharpay a few seconds after Troy was gone. She was still too shocked from his just seconds ago revelation about Troy to notice just how beyond strange his excuse to get away as well before she started questioning him sounded. So she simply swallowed hard and nodded numbly, and he quickly ran off, leaving her alone, abandoned, and one hell of a lot shocked and confused in the car.

_"Sharpay, the woman you used to have the serious hots for..."_

_"Sharpay, the woman you used to have the serious hots for..."_

Sharpay Evans_, the woman_ Troy Bolton_ used to have the _serious_ **hots** for..._

That one, just barely eleven word sentence was on a constant repeat in her mind, as if her thoughts were a broken record player, or a scratched CD. That one sentence left her with so many questions...so many goddamned questions, feelings...emotions. She just wasn't sure if it was right that flattery, being pleased, and even freaking _**happiness**_ all seemed to be a part of them.

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

"...Gabi?" Troy asked slowly, peeking hesitantly into the darkened room. "You in there?" He pushed open the door further. "Gabriella?" He flipped on the lightswitch and stepped inside.

"Where the hell have you been?!" a very pissed off voice answered him. There on the bed sat Gabriella Montez, dressed in a short black nightgown. She had her arms and legs crossed, and she obviously looked very furious and both frightening and sexy at the same time. There was no denying that she was a physically attractive person, even to Troy, who still preferred and seemed like he always would prefer Sharpay to her anyway.

"Why are you in your nightgown already...h-honey? It's only a little after nine..." he almost choked on the word 'honey'.

"I'm asking the questions here, Troy. Now where were you? I swear if you were with that...fake blonde, trashy little homewrecker who everyone kept on wondering about-"

"Don't even start with that, Gabriella! She didn't do anything. _We_ didn't do anything!" Troy insisted, and it really wasn't a lie...they didn't do anything...but they might have, had it not been for Justin and his phone call. But he knew it was best to leave that part out.

"Oh you didn't, huh? So why is your face all red, hm? Why do you look so guilty?"

Wow, was it that easy to confuse guilt with anger and embarassment?

"It's hot outside, and I was running. That's why my face is red." Troy quickly lied. "I needed to blow off some steam."

"So where was _Shar-pay_ the whole time you were '_running_'?"

"How the hell would I know?! What's your fucking problem with her anyway?!" Troy asked snappily, getting defensive now.

"Are you kidding me!" Gabriella scoffed, shooting up from her seated position on the bed.

"She's a _bitch_,"

_Na, that's _**you**_._

"She's _annoying_,"

_Also _**you**.

"We've already established the _homewrecker_ thing,"

_I'm fucking still "with" you, aren't I?!?!!...well, kind of._

"And I bet even at her age, she doesn't even know the difference between a diffuser and a hair dryer!"

_What the hell?!! Random, much?_

"What the heck is a diffuser?!"

"See? Her stupidity is starting to rub off on you already!" Gabriella accused.

"Gabriella, I_ never_ knew what a diffuser was! Oh hell, why are we even discussing this?!" Troy asked, throwing his hands up in the air much like he had just minutes ago when he was outside with Chad and Sharpay. This conversation had just turned pointless.

"A diffuser is an attatchment to a hair dryer that spreads the air out more and helps reduce the frizz, Troy! It's kind of obvious!" The latina exclaimed.

_Gosh, why didn't she just say "Wow Troy, you're such a freaking idiot. How the hell could you NOT know that?!" _Troy thought, because that's kind of the way she said it.

"Obvious?! Not really!" Troy shot back in disbelief that she would even consider that obvious.

"Yes, really!"

"But, I- oh, just forget it! You can't hate a person based on their knowledge of hair appliances- or lack thereof."

"That's beside the point."

"It's_ right on_ the point."

"Forget it Troy, you're pissing me off!" Gabriella practically shouted before storming over to the connected washroom. She grabbed the door handle and yanked it open with a violent swing "And you can tell that stupid bimbo that if she tries anything, I will have no problems calling my body guard down here to kick her ass so hard, she'll be sent flying all the way back to wherever her _pimp_ is!"

"I'll be sure to deliver the message!" Troy hissed back at her sarcastically with an eye roll.

"Actually, you know what? Scratch that, I'll be more than happy to do it myself!"

She disappeared inside the bathroom and slammed the door so hard, Troy could almost hear the vibrations, before he could get another word in.

Chad just moved up even higher on his "hit list" (a/n: not really killing anyone!), for two reasons- one, for his little announcement down in the driveway with Sharpay, and two- for "suggesting" that he marry the most high-tempered, jealous, overreacting snob in the world!

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

"Oh! Sharpay, back so soon?"

"Soon?" Sharpay raised an eyebrow. "From what I've heard, it almost seems like if I'd been gone any longer, everyone would have been hanging up 'Missing' posters by now."

"Well I guess when you're a fifty-something year old host whose running around like crazy trying to please and make sure everyone's comfortable, the time just drags on." Lucille said with a tired smile, the corners of her eyes wrinkling. Sharpay tried to smile back, but she just couldn't bring herself to for some reason. After she'd finally hauled herself out of the car, she'd only gotten as far as the front porch before deciding that she still didn't feel like facing or talking to Justin or anyone really and had plopped down on the wooden porch swing.

She assumed that everyone else was already inside by now since up until her maybe, possibly, who really knows for sure(?) sometime-in-the-far-away-future mother-in-law came outside just now she'd been the only one out here and hadn't been discovered yet.

"So when did you get back?" The older woman asked, lowering herself onto the swing as well.

"Recently. I'm gonna go with around twenty minutes ago."

"Hasn't Justin tried calling?"

"Probably," Sharpay shrugged. "I shut my phone off," she said, leaving out the part about him calling once already back at the park. She wondered if he'd tried calling her since then...

"So how is everything?" Lucille asked, not asking why she'd shut her phone off.

"Fine, why do you ask? I talked to you just a little more than a few hours ago..." the blonde said, crossing her legs and staring out into the dark, warm night.

"Because you've been sitting out here all alone for probably all of the twenty minutes that you've been back from wherever you were, you took off earlier without really telling anybody, and you shut your phone off." the Bolton mother/aunt/grandmother/mother-in-law to the other people her children were married to, explained.

"I guess with everything that happened earlier at the game, I couldn't take just standing around wondering if Troy was alright, so I had to go. He was the one gone a lot longer than I was."

"Did you find him?"

"Yes, he was still at the park. But he's back, too. I don't know if you saw him already?"

"I did." Lucille told her, "Only for a second or two. He ran by the kitchen, also around twenty minutes ago, and disappeared upstairs. It seemed like he was running away from something...then Chad came in just a few seconds after he did, and looked all guilty about something." She shook her head. "Kept on mumbling something about himself being an 'idiot'."

Sharpay didn't reply. She knew the reason for what that had to be, and she wasn't sure if she should talk to Lucille about it or not. But for a woman in her mid fifties, she still seemed to be very observant and knowing.

"You wouldn't happen to know anything about it, Sharpay, would you?" Lucille asked, giving her a pointed look. Avoiding her eyes, the rather silent younger woman kept her eyes glued to the still night air.

"I don't know." She mumbled.

"Sharpay. What happened between you and Troy?"

A long silence followed Lucy's question, and just when she was positive that Sharpay would not respond, she did.

"Nothing." She said finally. "Nothing...happened...between us..." she said carefully, because nothing did...

"It's just..." she swallowed, "being with him...just us...at the park, it kind of reminded me of being a kid, or a pre-teen again."

"Well, of course. You haven't seen him in a long time and you were good friends back in the day, right?"

"That's the thing." Sharpay frowned. "It was 'back in the day'. We're not anymore. I mean, we are. We weren't before today. It's been so long, and that's what bothers me."

Lucille was quiet, and Sharpay took that as a sign to continue on.

"I've always cared about Troy, I missed him a lot, but I just don't think he _knew_ how much I cared for him."

"Why did you loose contact?" Lucy questioned.

"I don't know. Everyone just kind of split off into their own directions." She shrugged.

"Then one day, I'm watching TV, and this commercial comes on. He's in it," Sharpay said, remembering the first day she ever realized what had happened to Troy after graduation ended way back when. "I was...shocked, to say the least. He was an actor, and I knew nothing about it. I guess those must've been his early days in the business. It was weird that I had been so clueless about it. And when I told Justin, he already seemed to know- probably from talking to you and Jack. But he'd never told me, and I'm still not sure why."

"Were you angry?"

"No...not exactly. I guess I was still just too surprised to really be all that angry that he didn't tell me firsthand." She paused. "But ever since college really, I've been wondering when and if I'd ever see your son again...I know what you're thinking- why didn't I just call you for a phone number of his or something? I guess I was just too nervous. He turned out to be some bigtime Hollywood guy, and everytime I ever brought him up around Justin anyway, he started acting all weird and annoyed, even. And I've always known that the two of them had a hard time tolerating each other, so I didn't want Justin mad at me if I told him I wanted to get back in touch with Troy again."

"You don't need his permission to talk to someone. If he doesn't like Troy, that's their problem. You didn't have to feel like you shouldn't talk to someone just because Justin disapproves. If I'd ever done that, Troy would've been up for adoption. But I never let their fights influence how much I cared about them both."

"...You're right. I should've just called you up and asked you myself for his number. But I guess that doesn't matter much anymore. Justin see's that were talking again and I know he doesn't like it. But when he told me we were invited to a reunion with your family, of course I wasn't about to say no. I mean, I was looking forward to seeing _everyone_ again for old time's sake...but, you, Jack....and Troy...are the first three people I thought of the minute I heard about it."

"Well...honey, you're here now. But you're all by yourself out here. So what's the matter?"

"Well," Sharpay sighed, "I guess when I invisioned being here and seeing particularly Troy again, I would see him the way I almost always used to see him...as a really great friend, and nothing but."

"You said almost always...was there a time that you didn't see him as just a really good friend?" Lucille asked her. Sharpay took a while to reply to that one.

"....Um...well...from like, third grade to the end of seventh I guess it was...I'd always had kind of a crush on both him and Justin, but I just couldn't decide which one I liked in that way more."

"By kind of, you mean?..."

"I mean I was going practically insane wondering when the hell one of them was going to ask me out. I mean that I was really really into the both of them! I never thought it could be possible to like_ two_ people the same amount and _so much_ at one time!"

"So what made you finally choose Justin?

"I didn'tchoose him. He chose_ me_. I couldn't bring myself to choose between Justin and Troy, which is why I waited and waited for one of _them_ to choose if they liked me like that or not. Justin just happened to be the one to ask me to be his girlfriend, and I'd always figured that whichever one asked me if he ever did, that I would say 'yes' and then having him as a boyfriend would help me to get over the one that didn't ask me."

"When did you stop liking Troy in more than a friendship way, Sharpay?"

"It took a few months. But I eventually did, fortunatley. I didn't want to still like him when I was with Justin. It just made me feel kind of guilty. From that day on I found myself falling harder and harder for Justin day by day, while at the same time loosing more and more interest in Troy, and eventually, I did, but I still cared so much about him- I still do. I saw him as my best friend. But when I told him that at the park, he seemed so surprised by it. That's why I don't think he knows how much I cared for him."

"So, what do you feel, _right now_?"

"Right n-now?"

"Yes. Shar, let's say we lived in a perfect world where you could choose very easily between my son and my nephew. Consequence free, who would you choose to be with?"

A heavy silence fell over the two women, Sharpay, trying to make her descision. Two descisions actually- who would she choose in this perfect world? And should she tell Lucille her choice? She knew she would have to be careful, so as to not give her the impression that she was trying to insult Troy or Justin since she knew that Lucille loved the both of them very, very much.

But she could still tell her, right? Who else could she tell right now? She had to tell her.

"Lucy..." Sharpay said, and took a long pause before making her final descision. And it was one thing to admit it out loud to Lucy, but another that at the same time, she was also actually admitting it to herself;

"I think I might be falling for your son all over again."

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

**Meanwhile...**

"Troy? You better open this freaking door right now!" A still fired up Justin shouted through the thick wood as he pounded on the door. It was pulled open several seconds later.

"Can I help you?!" An exhausted Troy Bolton snapped. "I had one hell of a long day, and all I want to do right now is get some fucking rest. My stubborn fiance' is making me sleep on the floor, and I've just about had enough of you. So you better make it quick, or if you feel like fighting me again, well then I'm sorry but you'll just have to wait for me to kick your ass tomorrow. Now what do you want?"

"I'm not interested in your marriage problems, and I also don't give a rat's ass about how tired you are. I just want you to know that whatever you were doing with _my girlfriend_ tonight, do it again, and I'll either kill you or send you into a coma. You got that?"

"Oh I'm so scared, I'm shaking." Troy spat sarcastically. "Now good night! And by that I mean, I hope you shit your pants tonight when you're sleeping." He said and tried to close the door, but Justin caught it with his hand before he could.

"I fucking mean it, _Troy_. I swear to god if you even did so much as touched her while you were out hiding from the rest of us at that stupid park and I find out about it, -and you better fucking believe that I _will_ find out-, that I will make sure to poison any kind of food item you let into your piehole throughout the rest of the course of this stupid reunion. Capiche?"

Troy kept dead silent as he just stared at Justin, swallowed hard, and gave a quick half nod. Okay, so maybe now he felt a bit threatened.

"Glad we're clear on that." Justin smirked. "Now where the hell is she?!"

"I don't know! I haven't seen her since she pulled into the freaking driveway! Now, _goodnight_!" Troy said, shoving the door shut quickly before Justin could stop it from closingagain.

The older cousin staggered backward a few steps and blinked in confusion.

_Driveway, huh? Guess I'd better head outside..._

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

**Back to the previous scene with Sharpay and Lucy/Lucille...**

"Alright. So you'd choose Troy-"

"But he's engaged, Lucy! And I'm not exactly single either- and what's going to happen to us after the reunion's over?"

"Well, we're not there yet. There's still six days left and who said I might not want to extend it?" Lucille smiled. "I just want to know one thing..."

"Alright...?"

"How come you're suddenly falling for Troy? It's only been one day. He must've done _something_ to make you feel this way."

This little question caused Sharpay to look down at her hands that were folded in her lap, and bite her lip nervously.

"Well?" Lucille asked, meaning "are you going to say or aren't you?"

"Luce, you kow how just a few minutes ago you asked me what happened between Troy and I at the park, and I told you nothing?" Sharpay recalled.

"Of course." Lucille smiled. "I also didn't believe you."

"Well, nothing actually _did_ happen. But I'm like, positive that something was about to..."

Lucille opened her mouth to say something, but Sharpay continued before she could ask "what".

"I almost kissed him, Lucy. Troy and I- we almost kissed, and we were _so_ close." She sighed. "But then my phone rang right at that moment...and it was Justin basically just demanding to know where I was. That's also why I shut my phone off afterwards. I didn't want to deal with him in case he called again."

"What lead you to the...almost-kiss?"

"I don't know...I was talking to him about Justin, actually...and how it seemed like our relationship was going nowhere." She hesitated about what she was going to say next. She didn't know if it would be an overshare or not, but than she remembered that Lucille was older and mature and she wouldn't laugh or scoff or something if she told her.

"I mean...we um...haven't even had...you know...sex... inawhile?" she said it awkwardly, the last part quickly, and in a lower voice than they'd been speaking in even though no one else was around. "Like at least five or six months."

"You didn't tell Troy that part, did you?" Lucille asked, holding her breath.

"_WHAT_? Of course not! This is woman to woman talk, now, Lucy. Just between the two of us, okay?" Sharpay said eagerly.

"Alright, alright. Just making sure!" She answered with a chuckle. It was silent for a while before Sharpay spoke up again.

"Can I tell you something else? And this is what really confused me...but also made me feel really good at the same time?"

"You can tell me anything, Sharpay. You're like a daughter to me...and I mean that in the not actually daughter type kind of way because that'd be awkward since because of you know...Troy and Justin."

"Okay, well...when I first got back half an hour-ish ago, I was sitting in the car in the driveway...and Troy and Chad were standing outside the car. We were talking about Gabriella, and-"

Before she could finish what she was trying to tell her, the front door swung open and out stepped no one other than Justin Bolton. Sharpay felt a hard lump rise in her throat, as she _still _didn't want to be near him yet, and he showed up at the worst possible moment ever- right when she was in the middle of spilling her guts out to Lucy about something Chad said about Troy...about her, to top it all of! She was seriously getting sick of him interrupting all her moments!

The 28 year old must've seen Lucille first, because he didn't even look at Sharpay, and Lucille was sitting on the side of the porch swing nearest the front door anyway.

"Aunt Lucy? Hey, what are you doing out here? Have you seen Shar-"

That's when he looked up and noticed her then. "-Pay! Why are you out here!?"

"Why are _you_ out here?" Sharpay challenged.

"Looking for _you_!" Justin answered before turning his attention back to his aunt. "Mind if I steal her away for the night? We have a few things to discuss."

"Well, actually, she was just about to-"

"I didn't think you'd mind. Thanks, aunt Luce." Justin interrupted before sending a hardened look at Sharpay. "Let's go, Sharpay" he said in a cold, flat voice.

"I don't think so, Justin. I was just perfectly fine out here with Lucille until you came and interrupted us."

"Perfectly fine?! Why is it that you're so damn _fine _all the time now?! First you were 'doing just fine' on the phone not talking to me at all, now your 'perfectly fine' out here? What the hell is this?" he demanded, almost forgetting that his aunt was there.

"I just dont think I need to be discussing _anything_ with you right now. So, if you don't mind?..." She said, trying to shoo him away.

"You know what? Fine! Continue being this stubborn little bitch that you've been all day. But once you decide to quit pretending like you're all independent and shit, come and fucking talk to me about it!" He turned around to go back into the house, but stopped and quickly added something before stomping back inside;

"I hope if you were whoring out on the jackass earlier, you were thinking of me the whole time, bitch."

**

* * *

**

_A/N: HARSH! Maybe now Lucille will realize how big of a total dick her 'perfect, everyone loves him' nephew is! *glaresatjustin*_

_Hm...you think I'm making his character TOO mean? :/_

_Yes?__Good.__MUAHAHAHAHAHAA. __The more rude he is, the more sweet Troy will seem, and maybe then Sharpay will just like him even more. ;)_

_Sorry there wasn't much Troypay stuff in this chapter, but there was plenty of talk about Troy from Sharpay that I think ya'll like?_

_and haha. The thing with the "difference between a diffuser and a hair dryer"- my friend brought that up the other day. We were talking about this one girl that acts all stuck up and my friend was like "Why does she think everyone loves her? She's so rude and she's not even THAT great looking. I bet she doesn't even know the difference between a diffuser and a hair dryer!" and I just gave her this complete "what the heck?" look. So yeah, I had to add that random moment in here somewhere ;P_

_ReViEw iTt??;P thanks!!_

_-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx_


	8. 6: She IS Perfect

**Disclaimer: **I don't own High School Musical.

* * *

**All In The Family**

**_Chapter Six - She IS Perfect_**

"**F**reaking _asshole_!" Sharpay exclaimed out loud to herself, storming into the kitchen. Too upset to really take in her surroundings, she threw open one of the cupboards and grabbed a clean, clear glass.

"Who is?" A surprising voice asked calmly, making her jump and drop the drinking glass into the sink. It hit the hard inside material with a loud clatter.

"Oh!" Sharpay gasped, whirling around. Her right hand flew to her heart when she saw who it was.

"Jack, you startled me!" The blonde gaped, gripping the edge of the sink and feeling her heart beating too rapidly for her liking. What was it with Bolton men and their random appearances everywhere? Did they just enjoy making her jump or what?

"Wow, a little jumpy today, are we?" Jack chuckled, setting down the newspaper he was reading on the kitchen table and removing his reading glasses.

"Kinda. I was just trying to get a glass of water to calm me down a bit. Anyway, what are you doing down here?" Sharpay asked, taking a plastic cup with polka dots out of the cupboard instead. "...and what's up with the dots?" she giggled, momentarily forgetting her anger.

"Just reading the sports section." Jack replied, "I usually do that when I'm drinking my coffee in the morning, but since I was too busy running around with Lucille this morning trying to get everything set up before the guests started arriving, I didn't really have the time until just now. And well, when you've got way more grandkids than you can count, you've got to make sure your house is kid-friendly." He smiled, in reference to the plastic kiddie-cup. "At least, that's what my wife told me when we were trying to figure out what all we should buy two weeks ago."

"I see," Sharpay said distractedly, walking over to the refrigerator/freezer and filling her cup with ice. "Hm..actually, scratch the water. Got any kind of hard liquor?"

"Did you not just hear me say the house has to be kid-friendly? And Since when do you drink?!" Jack asked, utterly shocked by her question. Did he seriously just hear Sharpay Evans ask for _hard liquor_?!

"Since never, but there's a first time for everything." Sharpay answered. There was a breif pause. "...Not even a shot or something?" she asked desperatley. Jack sighed.

"You wanna talk about it?"

"Talk about what?" the stressed woman asked obliviously.

"The reason why you've randomly decided you want to intoxicate yourself."

"Urg! Why are you and Lucy so freakin' observant?" Sharpay groaned, dumping the cup of ice in the sink and snatching a pepsi from the fridge, deciding that if she couldn't have alcohol, she might as well put some caffeine into her system.

"We've both lived more than fifty years." Jack answered. "Where is she anyway?"

"She went upstairs."

"Ah...So what's bothering you?"

"How come you're so sure something's bothering me?" Sharpay wanted to know, popping open her cold can of soda and taking a long drink. She instantly felt herself relax a little bit, as the liquid felt cool and refreshing as it swiveled down her throat.

"Well, we could either go back to it being because of the whole hard liquor thing, or it could also possibly be because you stomped in here muttering 'stupid freaking asshole' looking like you could murder a crowd of hungry, vicious lions trapped in a cage with you with your bare hands."

"Damn, you heard that?"

"I may be old, but I'm not quite to the deaf stage yet." Jack chuckled, pushing the seat across from him back, under the table with his foot."Now, have a seat and tell your ol' man Jack who pissed you off today."

"Well, if you want the short version, your stupid nephew told me I was an annoying bitch and called me a whore."

"What? Justin said that?" Jack asked in disbelief, knitting his eyebrows together.

Sharpay nodded, sitting down at the table with her pepsi.

"There had to be a reason, though."

"You callin' me a whore, Jackie?"

"You know I'm not, Sharpay. But why would he say that?"

"It's a long, complicated story." Sharpay muttered.

"I've got time, and if this goes into tomorrow morning when all the pesky kids screaming 'grandpa!' wake up, I can still make time."

"Ha, okay, it's not _thaaaat _long."

"Then the next two hours of my life are fully dedicated to you."

"Why two hours?..But it's not _that_ long either."

"Shar, I may not be old enough to the point where I'm deaf yet, but I'm old enough to the point where if I don't get my rest, I'm capable of falling asleep randomly on this kitchen table." Jack told her. She chuckled.

"Then I'll be sure to finish in time."

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

All was still in Albuquerque at about 5:30 AM the following morning. Still and quiet, that is. Most of the vistors in Jack and Lucille's home were still sleeping soundly in their guest beds, on the floor, or on air mattresses, with the exception of Troy Bolton, who had hardly slept a wink the previous night.

It was one thing that his soon-to-be-wife had forced him to the hard, uncomfortable floor because of their breif little arguement the night before, taking up the entire bed for herself, but the whole thing with Sharpay (and friggin' Chad, for that matter), were another cause of his lack of sleep.

But even though he probably only had around ten minutes of sleep altogether, he still wasn't tired. He was actually still wide awake, and he couldn't handle laying around on the hard floor with one pathetic not-even-big-enough-to-entirely-cover-him blanket and a stupid flat as a pancake pillow any longer, so he had to get up- _now_.

Troy knew that Gabriella probably wouldn't be waking up for another two or three or maybe even four hours, so that gave him more than enough time to get a little morning jog in. Back home in California actually, he tried to go for at least an hour long jog every day. He'd never been the fastest kid in the neighborhood as a child (noooooo, that just had to be Justin, of course), but with his daily training, he knew he'd since become a lot faster. He liked running...whether it was a full on sprint, or just a jog. Running and working out had to be the only athletic or physical things he really actually enjoyed.

He got up quietly and, after seeing that Gabriella was sound asleep in his old bed, headed for the conjoined bathroom to take a quick shower before heading out.

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

Sharpay let out a bored sigh as she leaned over the kitchen sink. It was freakin' 5:45 in the morning, and she just couldn't sleep at all. Last night, after she'd finished talking to Jack, she'd found herself in the living room watching some boring dramatic film on the Lifetime movie network that she couldn't quit concentrate on. After a while she'd given up and decided to try to get some sleep. (on the living room couch, since there was no way in hell she was going to sleep anywhere near _Justin_ that night, and he'd completely taken over their potential room.) There were other members of the Bolton family trying to sleep in the living room when she'd gone in there (There weren't enough rooms for everybody!), so they were probably getting annoyed that she'd had the TV on anyway.

But she'd spend the whole night tossing and turning and trying to get comfortable on that stupid couch with all kinds of thoughts focusing on her screwed up love life swarming around in her brain. At some point she'd just wanted to tell her mind to shut the hell up and let her sleep already, but her thoughts ignored her. So, desperate with something to do, she'd decided that she might as well do something productive and was now washing dishes from yesterday by hand. There weren't that many though, since everyone had mostly ate off of paper plates and plastic cups yesterday, which pissed her off because, what the heck was she supposed to do when she finished washing what little amount of dishes there were? Go back to "sleep"?

A couple of more minutes passed before she heard the approaching sound of footsteps. She turned around quickly and froze when she saw Troy, of all the god damned people in the house, Troy, pulling the refrigerator door open.

"W-what are you d-doing up?" She asked nervously, shutting off the kitchen sink after having finished washing the last dirty dish. Troy, who had his head stuck in the fridge, froze and bit his lip nervously as well, contemplating over the thought if he should pretend he didn't hear her, or acknoweldge her. His first intention when he'd walked in here and silently cursed when he saw that she was in here was too quickly grab a water bottle and make a run for it. But he hadn't actually expected her to turn around and see him. Maybe he should work on being a bit more quiet...

"I was just gonna go for a jog," he finally answered, picking up a water bottle, closing the fridge, and slowly turning around to face her.

"Oh." Sharpay quietly said, not knowing what else to say.

"...Why are you up?" Troy wondered after a moment of awkward silence.

"Couldn't sleep," she admitted.

_Why couldn't she sleep? Probably something to do with me and my idiotic 'friend's' confession yesterday._

"N-neither could I...that's why I'm going for a jog. Heh, nothing else to do at this hour." Troy said nervously with a shrug, rubbing the back of his neck.

"I...know what you mean. I was...just doing the dishes. So, yeah."

"Oh." Troy said. "Um...nice."

"Yeah."

They stood in a long, tension filled silence after that, each wanting to say so much...so much regarding yesterday, but holding back, fearing more awkward-ness.

"I um...I think...I'm gonna...go now," Troy finally said slowly after a long while. The silence was making him crazy!

"Yeah, okay." Sharpay nodded. "You...do that."

Troy nodded quickly and turned to leave, but as soon as he did, Sharpay realized that she couldn't just let him go like that. They had too much they needed to discuss. She couldn't let him leave right now without talking to him at least a little about yesterday evening. Because she knew that if she did let him go now, the chances were extremely low that they'd ever get a second chance to talk again, without everyone trying to poke their noses into and get all suspicious about it, and before either of them knew it, the reunion would be over and they'd just go back home with everything left unsettled. And she couldn't have that, she just couldn't. No matter how awkward it was between them right now, she realized that it would always be that way before they sorted it out, and the longer it wait, the more weird it would be. So they had to do this _now_. It was the only convenient time _ever_.

"Troy," Sharpay blurted out quickly... -_desperatley_-, stopping him. He turned around and shot her a questioning glance. She sniffed and swallowed, biting her lip.

"Do you mind if I join you on your jog?"

It took Troy a moment to reply. "W-what? Well...I, um-"

"Please." Sharpay said, looking him dead in the eye with a desperate, pleading look. "You and I both know we need to talk about some things."

Troy held her gaze for only a moment before having to look away. "...You're right. But-"

"And now is the only good enough time to do so," she said. "Everyone's asleep, and everyone's going to _be_ asleep for a couple or a few more hours. So we can be back before anyone even knows we left."

"I know. But Sharpay-"

"If we don't do this now, it's never going to be done. We're going to leave this place without exchanging even ten more words, and I'm going to spend the rest of my life regretting not talking to you right this moment. So, please."

She knew she shouldn't be begging, and that maybe it was a little over dramatic, but she didn't care. She would do or say anything at this point just for him to let her simply _go_ with him.

Troy just stared at her for a while, thinking in his mind that he should say "no", but knowing in his heart that he had to say "yes". Even if it would most likely be way awkward...their "little talk", he knew that she was right, and he _had_ to let her come if he wanted to clear this up at all. And he did, no matter how embarassing it would be for him, because he knew that she knew that he, according to Chad, "used to have the serious hots" for her. But maybe, hopefully eventually the weird, awkward tension would be cleared up...but only if they talked about it now, because what other chance did they have?

So he had to let her go.

"Alright," he said finally. "But we _are_ going to be jogging, too. Do you have anything you can change into?"

A relieved, grateful smile broke out over her face. "Yeah, actually. You can never come _too_ prepared." Sharpay said. He nodded in agreement.

"Five minutes?" she asked, already starting past him.

"Sure, five minutes." Troy said, but she was already gone. Deciding that he should probably just eat something now while he waited, he walked over to the pantry and took out a bagel.

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

Sharpay froze and held her breath when the door creaked as she slowly pushed it open. It was amazing how, during the day the sound of a creaking door seemed like the most quiet thing in the world, but at night or super early in the morning it had to just about be the loudest.

_Phew! _She thought as the sleeping form on the bed didn't even flinch. She knew that Justin was a heavy sleeper, but she still wanted to be extra quiet, just in case.

Keeping as silent as possibly, Sharpay tiptoed across the carpeted floor over to the wooden bureau in one of the far corner's of the room. She pulled the middle drawer open and strained her eyes to see in the darkness as she searched the drawer for something proper to wear on a jog.

Knowing it was wrong, but not being able to help herself, she wanted to wear something that would impress Troy, even at a time like this.

So she finally went with a black pair of short shorts and a navy blue sports bra. Even this early in the morning, Albuqurque was a warm place, so it's not like she was going to get _cold _or anything. But just in case, she also grabbed a navy blue zip up hoodie anyway.

"Sharpay..."

Justin's sudden voice make her nearly gasp out in surprise. She dropped the clothing items back into the drawer and then completely froze, holding her breath, her heart beating wildly.

_Oh shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit!_

Had she been caught?!

She slowly turned around, and had to stop herself from crying out in victory when she saw the sleeping body turn and mutter something that sounded a lot like "stubborn bitch."

Though she'd just been insulted, it was only Justin talking in his sleep again, and she couldn't be more relieved! So relieved that she wanted to laugh, and so relieved that she didn't care that _again_, even if only in his sleep, he'd called her a stubborn bitch.

_Oh, sweet, sweet joy! _She thought as she quickly grabbed the clothes again and a pair of socks. She quickly but quietly shuffled back across the room, grabbed her Nikes by the door, and was extremely quick to get the hell out of there before she actually _was_ caught. She went into the restroom across the hall to change, put her hair up, and brush her teeth.

**-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-/-**

"I'm back." Sharpay announced in a hushed tone, as to not wake anyone in the living room (which was next to the kitchen), up.

"What took you so long? You said five minutes." Troy said, standing up from his place at the kitchen table. "It's been over ten."

"Sorry," Sharpay said, opening the fridge to get a bottled water. "I had to be really slow and really quiet and careful because I didn't want to wake up Justin." She scowled after saying his name. _Freakin' jerk_, she thought of him.

But Troy wasn't listening to her explanation, he was too busy staring at her legs.....................so long.............and tan and......... smooth looking.

_Hot damn!_

"Huh? Oh, let's just go then." He said, snapping out of it thankfully before she caught him ogling her. She thought he had the hots for her back when they were younger...ha! If only she knew what he thought of her now.

"Yeah, before we accidentally wake someone up." Sharpay said, leading the way out of the kitchen.

"So which way and where to are we running? Your call." She said to him once they were outside.

"Well um....remember the old nature trail?" Troy asked.

"Behind the playground of that old _elementary school?_" Sharpay asked, surprised. "Wow! Of course I remember that place!" She smiled, remembering how the whole neighborhood 'crew' always used to go there when they were all kids. She'd spent some of the best times of her life down there...but she hadn't been there in _forever_, and it was just a few blocks away. The Boltons lived by everything, it seemed like.

"Well, we can walk to it and start jogging once we get there, I guess....if you want." Troy said. "It's not very far."

"I know. Sure. Come on." Sharpay said, starting down the sidewalk. He followed after her quickly. They walked side by side in dead silence for a while, each completely unsure of where to start a conversation.

_So this is where the awkward-ness kicks in_, Sharpay thought almost miserably. She wanted so bad for things to be normal between them again, like yesterday at the park...everything had been going great before her stupid phone went off. But luckily she didn't bring that damn thing with her this time.

"Hey, you know, I'm not much liking this whole walking thing." Sharpay suddenly said after a while. "How about I race ya to the school?"

"You, race me? That's cute, Sharpay. I don't think so." Troy chuckled. "Now I may not have ever been the fastest guy ever as a kid, but I've gotten better."

"Proove it, then."

"I'd rather save my energy for when we get there."

Sharpay smirked, remembering something he'd said to her yesterday when she didn't want to climb that tree but he'd made her anyway.

"_Chicken_."

"Ha-ha." Troy said sarcastically. "You know, it's kind of sad that you're using my own insult against me."

"Oh please, that's got to be the most unoriginal insult in the history of insults."

"Don't hate just because I used it before you did." Troy smiled to himself. He hadn't expected it to be this easy to talk to her already.

"Don't hate just because I used it _against_ you." Sharpay replied.

"Clever comeback." Troy said, and she wasn't sure if he was being sarcastic or not. So she didn't comment back on that.

"So are we racing, or are you too afraid that I'm going to beat you?" She teased, getting back to the point.

"You're on, Evans." Troy smirked.

"Bring it, Bolton." Sharpay challenged, unzipping her hoodie and tying it around her waist, revealing to Troy her sports bra and her flat, bare stomach. It took all Troy had to keep his jaw from dropping. Her choice of outfit- tiny shorts and just a sports bra underneath that hoodie, left him with a wide variety of not exactly PG-13 rated thoughts on his mind.

_Holy crap._

He wanted to do truly inapropriate things to her. With her.

But Sharpay didn't give him much time to gaze at her, because just when he was sure his eyes were going to bulge out of their sockets, she took off running full speed down the sidewalk, forcing him back to reality.

"Hey, cheater!" Troy exclaimed once he realized that she was taking an unfair head start, taking off after her. He heard her laugh.

"Haven't you ever heard that it's best to save the majority of your energy until your nearing the end of a race?!" He shouted at her.

"Yeah, and if you don't stop talking, you're going to waste your breath, Bolton!" Sharpay called back to him. She was probably about fifteen to twenty feet ahead of him, zipping past house after house after house no problem.

"I meant the fact that you're already doing a full sprint! Ha! Fraid I'll catch you, huh?" Troy replied, coming up closer behind her.

"Oh just admit it, you're straining yourself to try and beat me. Not as easy as you expected, hm?" Sharpay answered, feeling a jolt of energy and speeding up even more as he came up just literally five feet behind her.

"You kidding? I could do this sleepwalking, no problem!" Troy huffed, now running right next to her, forcing her over a little ways on the sidewalk. "Your shoe's untied!" He joked.

"Please, do you think I was born yesterday?" Sharpay asked, feeling an adrenaline rush and speeding forward just a couple of feet, knowing he wasn't serious anyways. "Better pick up the pace, _grandpa_!" She told him over her shoulder, rounding a street corner with him hot on her heals.

"Alright, how's this?" Troy asked, passing her with some effort. Geeze, she was a lot faster than he'd expected. Since when did she run like this? Though he didn't want to admit it, they were right around the same speed as each other. Every time he managed to get even just two feet ahead of her, she was able to boost it up a notch and get that much in front of him, too. It was an on going thing. They kept on passing each other back and forth. Left and right.

As they whizzed by houses and mailboxes, fences, and even some cars in a blur of motionless color, it was obvious to the both of them that this was going to be an extremely close race. With each forward motion of their limbs, they felt themselves rapidly gaining speed and loosing breath, both of them determined to win this.

They were nearing the school now, Troy could tell. He could feel it. They closer they got, the more pumped he became. He felt free as he ran, the wind blowing gentle kisses in his face as he flew down the sidewalk, with Sharpay next to him. (...and in front of, and behind, and next to again.)

Finally, they reached the parking lot of elementary school. Their old elementary school...an entire sixteen years ago.

Well, they were almost there. They could see it right up ahead, and Sharpay was in the lead. Her lungs were about her burst, her throat was on fire, and her sides ached. But somehow she still managed to keep on going at full speed. They were just about there, she could make it fine.

Troy wasn't actually really sure where to the school they were racing too. At first he'd figured it would be to the parking lot, but then he saw her speed right through the parking lot and keep going when they got there.

"Where are you going?" he called after her, but she just keep running without an answer. That's when he realized that she was probably going to stop when she reached the grassy lawn area, since he saw her headed in that direction to the side of the main school building.

Pumping his arms and legs, Troy fought to bring himself up right next to her, and he managed to do it. But she was fighting to stay ahead of him. She gave him a "Sayonara, sucker!!" look out of the corner of her eye before taking her winning pace back in front of him and Troy realized that if he didn't do something, she was going to win, and he may not ever hear the end of it for the time being. So, thinking quickly, he came up directly behind her and right when her foot was about to land on the grass, he circled his arms quickly around her waist and did a quick one-eighty. The sudden feeling of being grabbed all randomly caused Sharpay to squeal loudly in surprise. Troy's back collided with the soft grass, pulling her down with him. Sh toppling onto him, landing with an "OOMPH!" on his body.

"What...the...heck?" Sharpay panted, unmoving. She didn't even care that she was laying on top of him. All she cared about at the moment was trying to catch her breath after that long sprint.

"Tie." Troy announced while at the same time trying to regain his own breath. He was only half aware that he was still holding her waist.

"No...I...totally...beat you!" Sharpay disagreed, her head falling lazily to his chest. With her ear pressed against him, she could hear his heart beating fast as lightning speed.

They lay there for a while, and the only sounds which filled the air were their own hard breathing and from what Sharpay could hear, Troy's rapid heartbeat.

"Why did you grab me like that?" she wondered after a while, when she was finally able to speak normally without panting every one or two words. She swallowed. Her throat itched now, but didn't exactly hurt. She coughed. It stung. What the heck had she done with her water?

"You would've won." Troy explained.

"I _did_ win, you cheated." Sharpay said, listening to his pulsing heart rate as it slowed down.

"You had a ten second head start!" Troy said, "I'd say _you_ cheated."

Sharpay didn't have to look at him to know that he was smiling. She could hear, feel, and see it in his voice. But for what reason?

"What's so funny?"

"It's just kind of weird that we're accusing each other of cheating, like kids always do."

"Well, if you would just accept that I won and deal with it, there would be no accusations." Sharpay said, now also smiling to herself.

"No way. It was a_ tie_." Troy insisted. He was not about to give it up.

"Fine, whatever Troy. Whatever helps you sleep at night." Sharpay said and couldn't help but giggle delightfully at this kooky, stupid, weird, fun, and everything in between, situation. How she could literally just lay there on top of him without even feeling the least bit awkward was beyond her, as it was now fully starting to sink in. As a matter of fact, looking back at earlier that morning when they'd first ran into each other in the kitchen, when she hadn't been sure how she was going to manage to get through this jog, which had become a race, without feeling weird around him and vice-versa seemed insanely off at the moment. Because she actually couldn't feel more comfortable right now, and she knew it was crazy, but already she was enjoying every moment of being with Troy and it suddenly didn't matter anymore whether they had that less-anticipated "little talk" anymore or not.

"I don't want to go back." Sharpay muttered suddenly.

"What?"

"To Justin, I mean. Not soon anyways. I just don't want to go back there. I love your family and everything, but today's only day two of the reunion. Everything got off to a shitty start and I'm just imagining how much worse it's going to get." Sharpay said, feeling lost and pathetic, but she couldn't help it. It was the way she really felt. The two were silent for a moment, before Sharpay finally lifted her head from his chest and gave him a serious look.

"For now, I just want to stay here. In front of this school that seems centuries old by now, laying on this dried up lawn that clearly needs to be taken care of better, with you." She smiled a close-lipped smile but then, remembering something, let it vanish quickly. "But I probably shouldn't be saying that right now since whatever feelings you used to have for me, according to Chad I mean, are gone by now since you're getting married soon and everything. In which case I feel like the biggest bitch and skank in the world for maybe making it seem like I'm trying to move in on you, which would make everything Justin said about me basically being a whore last night, true." She rambled on.

"He called you a _whore_?!" Troy exclaimed angrily, knowing that a couple of the other things she'd said just now would normally have made his heart soar far and wide, but since she'd added the part about the whore in there, all his good feelings were trashed by that one word. He'd made a promise to himself a long time ago that he would personally kick the ass of anyone who ever dared to insult Sharpay, and now more than ever, he wanted to keep that promise. Especially since the one insulting her was Justin.

"Well, not exactly flat out like that but...it's complicated." Sharpay said, confusing herself with this even. "But what I'm really trying to say is, I'm sorry. And just forget what i said about me wanting to just stay here with you, since I could kind of tell you didn't really want me to come along on your exercise anyway, or you just were too embarassed to talk about yesterday and that was why you didn't want me to come," she paused breifly, but not long enough for him to get a word in. "But if that was the reason, it's fine. We don't have to talk about _that_ any longer if you don't want-"

Before she could finish, Troy suddenly placed an open hand on the back of her head and gently pulled her head down onto his, their lips meeting together in a firey kiss.

Shocked frozen by this sudden action of his, Sharpay found herself completely still, unable to kiss back no matter how much she wanted to.

Troy pulled back after a few seconds with a more-than-satisfied smile plastered across his handsome face.

"Sharpay," he said, "you have _no_ idea..._how_ long...I've _always_...wanted to do that." His smile grew, if that was even possible, and Sharpay blinked, dazed and dazzled by what just happened. She'd just kissed Troy. Troy had just kissed her. _The_ Troy Bolton, big time movie star, who was also her childhood best friend ever, just kissed her.

"You talk _way_ too much." Troy told her, and she smiled, leaning down to kiss him again. And _actually_ kiss him this time. Her kiss was eager. Desperate. Hot. Wanting. _Needing_. Not the gentle soft touch of slight pressure he'd expected. No, this was much, much better. His eyes screwed shut, and he kissed her back with just as much fervor. He'd wanted this for so fucking long, and he was finally getting it. Finally. After at least twenty years, probably. Freaking finally.

"Shar," Troy said after a long while, pulling back only slightly.

"Hmm?" Sharpay asked distractedly, turning her attention to his bottom lip, nipping at, kissing, and gently sucking on it. She didn't open her eyes. There were no cell phones to interrupt them this time, and for that she was thankful. She didn't want this to end. No, not yet. It was too soon. Not yet.

"I need to ask you something."

"What?" she breathed against his lips, her eyes still closed. He'd better make this quick. She wasn't done yet.

"Do you know...the difference between a diffuser and a hair dryer?"

"What?" Sharpay asked, her chocolate eyes snapping open. "What kind of a question is that, Troy?"

"Just answer it, please." Troy pleaded, and she gave him a weird look before sighing and answering.

"Um...yes. I have both. Happy now?"

Troy grinned. "Yes." he said, and before she could ask him any questions regarding his own random question, flipped them over so he was on top and pressed his lips to hers once more. They kissed like it was a form of clasping. It was amazing for both of them, and she was too much swooned by his hot kiss to pull away and demand an answer as to why he'd asked her that random, weird question.

_See, Gabriella?_ Troy thought, in a "take that, bitch_!"_ kind of way,

_she_ _**is** perfect_.

* * *

_A/N: Woohoo! Troy finally got his kiss. -insert heart symbol here-. ;P I hope I didn't screw it up too bad. Was it written okay? Hope to hear your opinions on it. Oh, and, although it doesn't even make a difference and doesn't matter much, if you want to see the random elementary school I was imagining when I was talking about it in here, the link to the pic of it is in my profile. Or so it will be, anyway. After I get this chapter posted up right now. ;b_

_PLEASE REVIEW._

_Luv you all! hehe, and your reviews mean the world to me! :'D_

_-Serena/HeSaidSheSaidx_


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